Splatoon 2 - Hyper Expansion
by HyperFlare957
Summary: Things are getting dire in Inkopolis, with the Great Zapfish still missing and the respawn pads failing to function across Octo Canyon. But when a mysterious creature from another world shows up with the skills to pull them through, the Squidbeak Splatoon will need to work with him to rescue the Zapfish and restore power to Inkopolis.
1. Welcome to Inkopolis!

**Inkopolis Square, Midday...**

"Ya'll know what time it is?" A voice sounded throughout the square.

Everyone present looked towards the large TV on the tower as it displayed two figures on screen. To everyone who watched Inkopolis News, these two were all too familiar. They were the most popular Inklings around, having taken over for the last duo. These two were known as Off the Hook, which was made up of Pearl and Marina.

"It's Off the Hook, coming at you LIVE from Inkopolis Square!" A second joined in, "Normally, we'd announce the current stages... but we have some breaking news!"

"So what's the deal, Marina? Tell the good folks the deets!" Pearl continued.

The second figure, revealed to be Marina, began to move a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable a couple times before an image appeared on the tv in the studio, showing what seemed to be a before and after image.

"The Great Zapfish has been missing for some time now. At this rate, Turf Wars will be postponed indefinitely." Marina explained.

"NOT THE TURF WARS!" Pearl shouted in shock.

"Calm down Pearl. We're still live!" Marina stated nervously.

Once again, Marina moved a vinyl record back and forth a couple times before showing a black and white shot of an Inkling striking a pose with a grin.

"Callie of the Squid Sisters has also been missing. So far, there are no leads as to her whereabouts." She added.

"She's probably just on a vacation. A celebrity's gotta get some peace and quiet!" Pearl commented in a cool manner, before the two began announcing the stages.

After the stages were announced, the screen went back to the duo.

"And that's all the time we've got!" Pearl said as she began to jump out of her chair, "Until next time..."

"Don't get cooked... Stay off the hook!" the two said as they posed.

 **Somewhere near Inkopolis Plaza...**

The old skate park was empty, devoid of any activity. No one had come by this way for a couple years, especially since the square was the new hotspot in Inkopolis. The place had started succumbing to nature, evident by the grass that begun to creep through the gaps in the concrete. Back in the day, young Inklings would start their Turf War carrier in this very park, learning the basics of how to get by in a fight. Today, a new face arrived, but they weren't an Inkling...

A strange creature lay unconscious on the ground, sporting some strange gear. They wore a black jacket and grey jeans, along with a pair of black runners with a reddish orange strap slung across the top being held in place by an orange buckle and on their hands were orange gloves with red cuffs.

Remaining motionless, the strange creature was approached by a lone bird that decided to land on top of them. The avian began to prod the figure with it's beak, seemingly making an attempt to wake it. However, it's efforts were fruitless, as the creature was still out cold. Having thought of another solution, the bird flew over to it's eyes and lightly pecked them. It was a success, but the action caused the creature to jump up in pain, scaring the bird away.

"Ow! What the heck?" the creature shouted angrily, looking around for his assailant, "Okay, who did that?!"

Suddenly, he noticed where he was and instantly dropped his aggressive attitude.

"Wha... Where am I?" he wondered as he looked at the cityscape around him.

The creature saw that he was in unfamiliar territory, completely unsure of his whereabouts. He could see numerous skyscrapers in the distance, but what caught his attention was the somewhat linear path ahead. Looking behind him, he could not pinpoint anywhere he would have entered this area from.

"I don't recognise this place... Just how did I get here?" the creature wondered before turning to the path ahead, "Well... I guess there's only one way to find out."

As he walked down the concrete path, he noticed there were a lot of strange things plastered on the walls, most of them in an unfamiliar language. He also saw that most of them were depicting what appeared to be aquatic creatures, mainly squids.

"Just what is this place.? They certainly aren't using English here." He thought as he arrived at an area that looked like a skate park, "Well, you don't have to speak the language to make one of these."

Looking at the area, he could see it was pretty plain. The space was quite standard with the exception of a few elevated sections, which for whatever reason, had a tree in the middle of them. As he continued to look around, he noticed an old billboard off to the side that had silhouettes of two humanoid figures, along with more of the unknown language. From what he could tell, the two people on the billboard looked to be quite young, possibly around their teen years.

"Did I end up on another continent?" he wondered as he looked across the park.

At the opposite end, he could see a few quarter pipes; two at ground level and one a level higher. Just past the quarter pipes were a set of steps that stopped before the path ahead, leaving a gap between the two. Having seen enough of the skate park, the creature climbed up the ramps and jumped across the gap. As he went to continue onward, he saw a fence blocking the way.

"Okay... Why would someone put a fence here?" the creature said aloud, "Logic dictates that fences block access to areas, but this is the only way forward..."

The creature walked up to the obstruction and pushed up against it to test it's properties. From what he could tell, the material was like that of iron and whatever pressure he put on the fence wouldn't budge it. As he continued to try and move it, he could spot something on the other side. From what he could see, it looked to be disk shaped, or at least the parts he could see that is.

"Guess I've got no choice..." He admitted, before giving off a slightly cocky grin.

Having settled on the fact he couldn't move the fence, the creature took several steps back before running straight at it. Upon reaching the fence, he placed his front foot onto the wire and ran up it, grabbing a hold of the top and vaulting himself over to the other side, landing with no issues whatsoever.

"Phew. If the rest of this city is gonna be like this, I might as well start stretching." He said as he caught his breath.

Now that he was on the other side, he could see a large pit with the object in full view. It appeared to be a UFO, sporting it's signature shape and futuristic appearance. What was odd was the fact that it was lodged into the ground, most likely from a crash landing. Jumping down to get a closer look, he noticed it was made out of a mishmash of different metals, but what was stranger were the two air conditioner looking things stuck to it, with a couple pipes coming from them leading into the ship itself.

"Now that's something you don't see everyday..." the creature commented, "Or ever for that matter."

Walking around to the other side of the UFO, he came face to face with a wall that had a grate hanging over the top. Backing up from said wall, the creature could spot another wall higher up with it's own overhanging grate.

"Who the hell designed this place?" he questioned, "How's anyone supposed to climb up these walls when there are grates blocking the way?!"

Picking up a small stone off the ground, he tossed it into the air before catching, then throwing it at the lower grate out of frustration. Having no clue of what to do next, he sat down in defeat as he looked up at the sky.

"How did I end up in this place..." the creature wondered as he watched the clouds, "It's the only thing I _don't_ remember."

Going over what he knew, his name, species and home world were the three most important things that came to mind. He was a hedgehog that went by the name of Hyper, who hailed from Mobius, a planet inhabited by many creatures like himself. Thinking about his home brought another name to mind, someone who was known far and wide as the hero of Mobius; Sonic the Hedgehog.

"I wonder how things are going back home..." He thought with a sigh, "I mean, Sonic can handle things, it's just... I don't know. Something just doesn't seem right."

As he stared aimlessly at the sky, his right ear began twitching, drawing his attention to the grate he threw the stone at. Looking closely, he noticed it appeared to be hanging loosely from the wall and was beginning to break off of it. Quickly getting to his feet, Hyper started backing up and within seconds, the grate broke off and crashed into the pavement below in a mess of metal.

"I suppose that's one way to solve this problem." He admitted as he looked to see if there were any witnesses, "I just hope no one needed that there..."

Now confident that he could procced, Hyper ran straight at the wall and climbed up it. Once he reached the top however, he kept running and propelled himself into the air, gaining more than enough height to get past the second grate. With the height he was at, he could see a decent amount of the surrounding area. The majority of buildings looked like he expected, but what stood out was a tall, green tower close by.

As he began to lose upward momentum, Hyper curled up into a ball and somehow, propelled himself towards the roof of the building he climbed, landing perfectly with no trouble regaining his senses.

"This city is definitely not like the ones back home. There's very little room to run around." He commented as he looked back at the previous area.

What he just went through was unlike any of the places he'd been through on Mobius. There were no loops, no corkscrews and most importantly, no robots, which were plentiful back home. While he was okay with the lack of bots to destroy, the plain landscape was quite boring. As Hyper turned back around to proceed, he was met with a dead end that had a puddle of a blue paint-like substance in the middle.

"What the heck? All this for a puddle of blue paint?" he complained as he approached the puddle, "Why is such a thing even here in the first place?"

Kneeling down, he took a closer look and decided to try and determine what it was by smell. Taking a quick sniff, he couldn't really describe what it was. It wasn't paint, that's for sure. Having no results from it's scent, Hyper dipped his finger into the puddle and upon feeling the substance against it, pulled it out and took a look at what covered his finger. It didn't seem to be harmful and it looked to be more reflective than paint.

"Whatever this stuff is, it's definitely not paint." He said as he tried to flick the substance off, "But I won't find a way home by staying here. That tower seems like a good place to start."

Having made up his mind, Hyper jumped towards the closest building and starting traversing the rooftops towards his destination.

 **Inkopolis Plaza...**

Once Hyper got onto the roof of a nearby building, he could see the full size of the tower, being at least three times the height of the surrounding buildings. It had two observation decks along it's structure, with one halfway up and another at the top.

"Woah. Ya don't see buildings like these back home." He commented as he admired it's size, "Hmm? What going on down there?"

His attention drawn towards the lower area in the middle of the buildings, he spotted a few humanoid figures talking amongst themselves. Looking at them, he noticed their hair, being very unnatural colours that would only be remotely possible with hair dye. As he looked closer, he noticed that their hair was quite reflective, seeming like it was recently soaked in water. However, none of them seemed to be drenched, in fact, they looked as dry as he was.

It was then that he realised that he couldn't make out any of what they were saying to each other. It all seemed to be a mess of gibberish and garbled speech. He could see them moving their mouths like anyone would when talking, but nothing was understandable.

"Just what in the hell are they saying?" He wondered, "Is it even possible to make it out?"

As the three walked off, Hyper just looked on in confusion. Not only was he in an unfamiliar place, but no one seemed to speak in a language he could understand either. Sure, he knew a few popular words in Japanese, but he could never wrap his head around anything other than English. Looking around the area, he could see that those three were the only ones here before they left. Taking this as the perfect opportunity to explore, Hyper jumped down from the roof and looked around at the various things that made up the space.

Behind him he could see what he assumed were shops, although they looked to be closed despite it being broad daylight. Opposite the shops were what seemed to be a café, with a second floor room being full of boxes, which he could see through the large window that faced a catwalk adjacent to it and to the right of that building was a place that he couldn't quite figure out what it was for. Having seen everything, Hyper turned to face the green tower and slowly made his way to the entrance.

 **Nearby...**

Looking at the once busy plaza, the inkling known as Marie just felt nothing but sadness as she took one last glance at the now empty place. As she made her way to the train station, she heard something from behind and turned to see what it was. In the middle of the plaza was a strange, black creature wearing odd clothing.

"What is that?" she wondered as she looked at the creature.

Wondering if it would be worth missing the next train to Inkopolis Square, Marie finally decided to investigate, making her way back to the plaza to check out this strange being. She hid behind one of the buildings and peeked out from behind, catching a better view of the individual. From what she could tell, it wasn't an Inkling, as what seemed to be it's ears were on top of it's head, nor did it look like any other sea creature.

"Could this be a new species?" Marie thought, keeping herself hidden.

Suddenly, she noticed the creature had it's sights set on Inkopolis tower, slowly approaching it with a determined look in it's eyes. Worried about it's intentions, the inkling quickly made her way to the next closest building and hid behind it, peeking back out to see if the creature noticed her. Luckily, she was in the clear, taking this chance to get closer, she dashed behind the next building and paused. Unfortunately, she had brushed one of her feet against an empty can, causing the creature to stop in it's tracks, it's right ear twitching out of instinct.

"Huh? What was that?" Hyper wondered as he tried to register the noise he just heard. Turning around he could see something ducking behind one of the buildings. Curious as to what was there, he carefully made his way behind the building. However, once he got there, he saw nothing but an empty alleyway.

"Okay... I could've sworn I heard someone back here." Hyper said as he scratched his head in confusion.

Almost immediately after his statement, he heard another noise from behind, this time it sounded like a splashing sound accompanied by what sounded like a manhole being moved. Looking back from behind the building, he noticed a grated manhole that looked to have been shaken from an outside force.

"Whatever was watching me, it looks like it went down there." He stated as he looked down the dark pit beneath, "Ugh. Well... Here goes nothing!"

Having mustered up the courage, Hyper lifted up the cover and climbed into the sewers, unaware of what awaited him.


	2. Knead for Speed

**Inkopolis Sewers...**

It had been several minutes since Hyper had entered the sewers and he was no closer to finding that figure he could've sworn he saw. Now lost in the labyrinth of damp tunnels, he was beginning to think that he was just imagining things.

"Ugh... Just where the hell did they go?' He complained as he walked alongside the flowing water of the sewers, "I decide to chase after 'em instead of checking out that tower and I already regret doing so."

Continuing on, he started to see some of the puddles from earlier, only this time they looked to be lime in colour, but what caught his attention though, was the long lane of the substance further ahead and the fact that it was glowing in the dark.

"It glows?! Just what is this stuff?" Hyper wondered.

Walking towards the lime trail like before, he dipped his finger into the substance and inspected what covered it. Almost exactly like the blue puddle, it was not paint, as it seemed to be slightly more like a liquid. As he looked up from the trail, he noticed the path ahead was broken apart, allowing water to flow through to a gap in the wall. Strangely enough, there was more of the lime stuff, but it was splattered onto the wall, although he could not tell why.

"Well then... I guess it's time for a little more parkour." Hyper said with a grin.

Turning to face the lime covered wall, he began to run alongside the uncovered part before it. Then, just as he reached the end, Hyper went diagonally into the wall and started running along it, over the gap and across to the other side. Once across, he jumped off the wall and tried to stop, but once he noticed the lime substance beneath his feet, he slipped and fell into the river. The moment he felt the cold water against his body, Hyper instinctively attempted to swim to the surface. Luckily for him, the river was only up to his knees when he realised he couldn't swim upwards.

"Great... Just perfect." He said in annoyance as he looked at his drenched outfit.

Climbing out of the water, Hyper just looked back at the wall he ran along. Taking a moment to figure out why that stuff was splattered along it, his thoughts brought him back to those humanoid figures he saw earlier. The colour of their hair seemed to be similar in property to this substance that adorned the wall.

"One of those things had the same coloured hair as that blue puddle back at the park and it looked to be just as reflective..." Hyper wondered, "Could they be connected somehow?"

As he pondered the possibilities, his right ear began twitching, drawing his attention behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, Hyper noticed what could only be described as something splashing in the lime substance around the corner.

"You're not getting away this time!" he said before giving chase.

Rushing down the path, Hyper used his speed to leap over the water and began to follow the trail from the other side. Each time he reached a turn, he could see a brief glimpse of his target going around the next corner, seemingly being able to outrun him.

"Whatever this thing is, it sure is fast." Hyper commented as he stopped for a second to catch his breath, "I guess that means I shouldn't hold back."

Having determined that he couldn't catch up the way he was going, Hyper knelt down and placed his hands on the ground in front of him before curling up into a ball and spinning rapidly on the spot. As he span faster, his body looked to be generating a large amount of heat. Mere seconds later, he started to ignite, showering sparks onto the ground behind him. Suddenly, in a split second, Hyper burst forward at supersonic speeds, an explosion of sound echoing throughout the sewers.

After having gotten closer to safety, Marie emerged from the ink and looked back to check for her pursuer. Seeing nothing coming from around the corner, the inkling sighed in relief, believing she had lost him. However, she immediately looked back again after hearing a loud burst of noise coming from behind.

"What in the world?!" Marie panicked, covering her ears as the sound threatened to rupture her eardrums.

Within seconds, an orange light began to emerge from the previous tunnel, prompting the inkling to duck back into the ink. Almost immediately afterwards, an intense wave of heat went over Marie, who tried her best to stay hidden. Once the temperature had died down a few seconds later, she slowly got out of the ink again and looked down the tunnel to see the water appeared to be disturbed more than usual, almost as if something had gone through it.

"Could it have been that creature?" she wondered before continuing onward.

Hyper was now rushing across the once relatively calm river and had managed to keep an eye on the lime trail, which was difficult given the speed he was moving at. With each turn he reached, he leapt towards another wall to redirect himself and pushed off down in the new direction, maintaining his incredible momentum. After some time, he eventually got to the trail's end, jumping off of the water's surface onto the side and skidding to a complete stop.

"Woo, that was quite the rush!" Hyper commented before looking around him, "I wonder where that mysterious figure went..."

As he turned to look at the lime trail, he noticed a ladder to the side that led to a possible exit. Looking upwards, his vision was met with sunlight, causing him to shield his eyes from blinding rays that shone onto him.

"Maybe they went up there?" he wondered as he scratched his chin in thought, "No other way but up, I suppose."

Reaching out to the first rung, Hyper began to climb up the ladder and as he got closer to the top, he began to feel a bit lightheaded. Only just managing to keep one hand gripped tightly onto the ladder, he placed his other to his head in an attempt to settle the sensation.

"Ugh... Why am I feeling lightheaded?" he pondered as he slowly regained his senses, "I doubt I've experienced anything that would cause this..."

Eventually, Hyper got to the top of the ladder and climbed out from under the manhole cover. Upon getting to his feet, he stood before what looked to be a tiny shack of sorts. Looking around, he saw a large snow globe to the right of him and to his left, a few brightly coloured objects that he couldn't identify from where he was standing.

Walking towards the objects on the left, he noticed that when he got closer, they looked to be inflatables. Circling around the first one, it was orange and looked to be soft. Poking it made the object bend backwards a bit before returning to an upright position. Curious, Hyper tried pushing against it, making it bend back a bit further.

"It looks to act like a punching bag, but it's more of an inflatable toy." he wondered, "If that's the case..."

Having thought of an idea, Hyper curled his hand into a fist and punched the object straight in the middle. What followed caught him off guard, as it burst from the impact, making the hedgehog fall backwards in shock.

"Whoa! What the hell?!" Hyper shouted, clearly disoriented from the backlash, "Was it really that weak?"

Quickly getting back to his feet, Hyper looked at where the inflatable once stood. What was once an orange inflatable had been reduced to a stump-like object. Looking closely at the foot of the inflatable's remains, he spotted what looked to be an opening of sorts in the centre. Before he could get a closer look, his vision was filled with orange as he was launched backwards by something he never saw coming. Once again, Hyper got back to his feet and upon looking ahead of him, he could see a brand new inflatable in place of the one he had just destroyed.

"Okay... I suppose they're meant to be attacked?" The hedgehog concluded in uncertainty.

Having lost interest in the three inflatables, Hyper turned towards the shack and noticed there was a path leading to the left of it. Curious, he wandered down it and came to an open area that looked fairly peaceful. Looking around the place, he could see various things strewn about, all using that language he saw back at the skate park. The first thing he could see in the centre of his current view, was something atop a large cushion that looked remotely similar to a kettle, except it had a grated lid and was very short.

Walking up to the object, Hyper could see at least three more of them, all with similar appearances spaced around the place. Looking at one of them, he noticed that the ground beneath it seemed to be floating in the air with no noticeable method of suspension. Now that he thought about it, the area he was in seemed to be oddly isolated, as all he could really see was a vast ocean surrounding the place. He could also see that the edges of the ground just kind of ended. No guardrails or anything.

Deciding to see what kind of place he was in, Hyper walked up to the edge and was surprised by what he saw. The ground he stood on was floating high above a large, rocky canyon with supposedly nothing keeping it airborne. No propellers, no rockets, not even a giant emerald. Looking downward, he could spot a few groups of floating land formations below which just raised more questions as to what this place was.

"Just what the hell is this place?!" Hyper said in frustrated confusion, "This makes less sense than anything back home!"

As he tried to wrap his head around the current environment, a faint clanging of metal from behind snapped him out of his thoughts. Turning around to see what was causing the noise, Hyper's attention was brought to the kettle atop the cushion. As he approached it, the clanging grew slightly more noticeable up to the point he could identify another noise, something that sounded electrical. Now standing directly in front of the kettle, Hyper looked down into the hole to try and see what was down there. Sadly, it was too dark to make anything out. For all he knew, this thing could go on forever.

"Well, we saw where checking out suspicious things got me last time..." Hyper began, "Bah, screw it. Here I go!"

Giving into curiosity, Hyper lifts the lid of the kettle and jumps into the dark pit, unaware that he was being watched.

Falling down the seemingly endless hole, Hyper wondered just what was up with this place. The buildings of the city looked like that of the ones back on Mobius, and the structures outside also looked manmade. Those figures he saw some time ago looked to be human, but something just wasn't right about them. As he continued to think about those beings, the area around him suddenly opened up into a large dome.

"Looks like I'm at the other end..." Hyper concluded before realising he was still falling, "BUT WHERE AM I GOING TO LAND?!"

Now panicking, he feared that he would fall into a pit of water, lava, or worse... SPIKES. Once he looked down, he was relieved to see none of those things, noticing many strange buildings making up what he assumed was the dome's floor. He wasn't heading for that thought, as in his way was a roofed structure that could've easily looked like a warehouse, had it not been for a large part of the area beneath it being uncovered.

"That looks like a promising place to start." He thought as he began to shift his weight towards the opening in the roof.

As he began to move over the opening, Hyper could see that the ground beneath was made of concrete forming a circular platform which floated hundreds of feet above the dome's floor. Within seconds, he had fallen through the opening and landed on solid ground with an echoing thud. Having landed on his feet with one hand to support him, Hyper legs immediately became enveloped in pain as he attempted to stand up.

"Gah... That was a TERRIBLE idea... ow." He admitted as he spoke through his teeth, "I guess I haven't gotten used to stomping yet."

As he tried to work through the pain, Hyper's attention was drawn towards a glowing light at the other end of the platform. As he looked towards the light, he could swear it looked like a giant light bulb. Taking a bit to adjust his focus, Hyper noticed that while it was a giant light bulb, there was something encased in it that looked to be struggling, as if it were trying to escape.

"What is that?" Hyper wondered, squinting in an attempt to get a better look, "Is it alive?"

After getting up to his feet, Hyper slowly made his way towards the trapped creature, completely unaware of the disturbed puddle of purple directly beneath it. As he reached the very edge of the purple substance, the ground shook slightly, halting Hyper's approach. Confused, the hedgehog looked around to check if something was coming, but wasn't able to spot anything.

However, as he was about to continue, the puddle beneath the creature began to create a series of noticeable ripples, causing him to hesitate. Suddenly, a large tentacle emerged and snagged the trapped creature, dragging it into the puddle with a splash. That wasn't all, as mere seconds later, a blinding light shone from the purple substance. Shielding his eyes as to not go blind, Hyper carefully peered out from behind his hands to see a large silhouette that started to tower over him.

Once the figure stopped getting larger, the light subsided, allowing the hedgehog to see it in full. As it let out a distorted cry, several rectangular figures poked outward from the main body. Hyper immediately noticed that this giant thing looked vaguely like an oven, which was evidenced by the fact that it had massive loaves of bread poking out of said oven. The one thing that was very odd, was that the loaves of bread had faces on the ends.

"A... giant oven?" Hyper said, completely dumbfounded, "Now I've seen everything."

Once the loaves retracted, the giant oven began to slowly approach the hedgehog, making use of several comically small wheels. Taking note of it's straightforward strategy, Hyper simply backed away nonchalantly, simply watching as it made a poor attempt to chase him.

"I guess not every giant mech is threatening." Hyper concluded as he continued to mess with the oven.

Suddenly, it stopped completely, making the hedgehog stop as well, curious as to what it was doing. The oven began to rotate until one of the many small oven drawers was facing him, making Hyper tilt his head in confusion. Once it had stopped turning, the drawer began to rattle and it suddenly burst open, allowing one of its loaves to forcefully poke out. Having been caught off guard, Hyper was pushed away and almost fell over the edge of the platform, only just managing to keep his balance.

"Okay... That was a lucky shot." He said once he regained his footing, "But that's not gonna happen again."

Now slightly irritated, Hyper did the first thing that came to mind and rushed towards the oven with a readied fist. Once he got close enough, the hedgehog proceeded to pummel the machine, hoping that would do something. When he stopped however, there was a distinct lack of damage on the oven's body.

"What the...?" Hyper exclaimed, "Not even a dent?!"

Using the opportunity to attack, the oven once again hit the hedgehog with another loaf, sending him flying into one of the poles holding the roof up. Barely able to hang on to the roof's support, Hyper looked down in confusion, unsure of what just happened. Shaking his doubts aside, he launched himself off of the pole and curled into a ball, ramming straight into the oven. Once again, not a scratch as he fell to the ground.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?!" the hedgehog yelled, now annoyed with his inability to damage the machine.

Just as Hyper began to think about what was happening, all the drawers on the oven began to rattle, shortly followed by a loaf poking out of each. Having no better ideas, he went to try attacking the bread when he noticed something poke out from the top of the oven. Curious, Hyper leapt onto the loaves and jumped up to the top, now seeing a possible weak spot. Before him was the very tentacle that nabbed that creature, and it was completely open to attack.

"Whelp... Here goes nothing!" Hyper said as he readied a punch.

The moment his fist connected, the hedgehog's vision became filled purple as he was knocked off of the oven. Quickly getting back to his feet, Hyper noticed his was covered with the purple substance.

"Ewwww... This better not be blood." He complained as he tried to shake the stuff off, "If it is, this place will have gotten _much_ darker."

Before he could properly do so however, the oven began shaking immensely, causing some dread to flow into the hedgehog's mind. Just as Hyper prepared himself for the worst, some of the oven's panels broke apart, revealing some mechanical parts that now replaced them. Three of the broken panels opened up to reveal large exhaust vents, while the forth had a large, spherical mechanism that seemed to function as an eye.

Just when it seemed like it was over, numerous purple pillars were shot out from the top and fell into place on the ground, flinging small amounts of the substance around the place. With another distorted cry, all the puddles had vanished and Hyper was now free of the purple stuff.

"Hey, thanks for that!" he sincerely thanked the machine, "I'm still gonna have to beat you though."

Once again, the oven started moving towards Hyper, though it was slightly faster than before and there were actual hazards that the hedgehog had to be careful of. Having believed he knew what to do now, Hyper immediately climbed up the oven to the top, but was surprised to see the tentacle wasn't there. In it's place was a hole revealing a pool of the purple substance inside, which kinda answered the question of where those purple pillars came from. Before he could linger any longer, the machine suddenly shook itself, causing Hyper to fall off and land back on ground level.

"Okay. I guess this is one of those enemies where I have to wait for the weak spot to show." He concluded as he got back to his feet.

Like before, the oven seemed to follow the routine of chase, stop, poke with bread, rinse and repeat. Since he knew how to deal with it now, Hyper simply kept his distance, treating it like a bull in a ring. After a while, the oven released the loaves once more, prompting the hedgehog to assume the tentacle had revealed itself again. Climbing back onto the machine, Hyper spotted the weak spot and took a moment to think about his approach.

"Okay, so if it's gonna explode again, how am I going to avoid being covered in that stuff..." he thought, "Wait! I think I got it!"

Having a plan in mind, he coated his right hand in flames and readied himself. Hyper then swung his arm to the side, sending a wave of fire towards the tentacle, causing it to start rapidly expanding.

"Oh crap... Gotta go!" he said, aware of what came next.

As he quickly jumped off of the oven, he caught a brief glimpse of a purple explosion. Upon landing, Hyper turned to face the machine and as he waited for it to either continue it's assault or explode, he noticed all the drawers were rattling. Suddenly, the loaves poked back out, but as Hyper was about to climb to the top, numerous metal sleeves slid out of the oven and over the bread. Once that was done, it let out another cry, clearing the area of the purple substance again.

"Really? Metal sleeves for the bread?" he said in confusion, "It's like this thing was made to combat something other than a supersonic hedgehog."

Once again, the oven started to move into the centre of the area, but as it did, more of those purple pillars shot out from the top, littering the area and creating less space to move. Just when Hyper thought it was about to try and hit him with the bread, it stopped completely, doing nothing more than just sitting there. As he waited for something to happen, his left ear began twitching, drawing his attention towards the left. Something appeared to be extending out the side of the oven and it was raining down that purple stuff onto the floor beneath it.

"Oh no..." Hyper said as he became filled with dread.

Once it was completely extended, the oven began turning and coating the ground with the substance. Wanting to avoid being drenched in the stuff, Hyper started running away from the advancing wall of purple. Completely forgetting that he would eventually run into the leftover trail, the hedgehog immediately fell forward into the purple substance the moment his feet touched it.

"Augh... Just what _is_ this stuff?" Hyper wondered as he struggled to move, "I... I can't move!"

As he continued to free himself, he suddenly noticed the raining wall steadily approaching. Completely out of ideas and a way out, Hyper braced himself for the worst when...

Nothing.

It harmlessly went over him, only covering him with more of the purple stuff. Surprised that he wasn't hurt or anything, he looked around to see the thing began to retract back into the oven.

"I don't know what I was expecting..." Hyper said, somewhat ashamed by his expectations.

Finally finding the strength to get to his feet, Hyper decided to try something as he began to surround himself with a fire-like aura. As it grew stronger, the purple substance covering his body began to dissipate, and within seconds, the aura burst into a mighty flame with Hyper standing inside, completely clean.

"Time to get serious." He said with determination in his voice.

Suddenly, Hyper rushed the oven with great speed, now attacking with fire coated punches and dash attacks. He couldn't even put a dent in it before, but now his attacks were starting to break through, small chunks of metal flying off of the machine. In an attempt to defend itself, the oven tried hitting the hedgehog with the bread again, but even though it was doing so more often and at a faster rate, Hyper kept dodging with ease.

In what could be considered a last ditch effort, the machine sent the loaves out of all the drawers, signalling the tentacle's appearance. Wasting no time in climbing to the top, Hyper stood before the weak spot for the last time. With a confident grin, he curled up into a ball and started spinning in place, increasing the heat that the aura was giving off.

"Here we..." Hyper began as he continued spinning.

"GO!"

In a burst of speed, the hedgehog cut right through the tentacle, leaping off of the oven and landing safely on the ground, not even looking back to see if he failed or not. Almost as if it were confirming the hit, a loud explosion reached his ears, making him grin at his success. As Hyper turned around to see what became of the giant oven, he noticed it was rattling erratically with it's many drawers beginning to swing open, revealing the loaves of bread once more. The only thing was that they looked to be heavily burnt, leading the hedgehog to assume something was going wrong.

"Oh crap..." he said in realisation.

Hyper looked around frantically for some cover, but he was on a perfectly flat surface this whole time, with not a single thing to hide behind. Now believing he was doomed, he braced himself and waited for what was to come. Once the oven suddenly stopped completely, the machine burst into an explosion of purple, coating everything that was caught in the area. A few seconds later, silence took over, only the faint clanging of metal being heard in the distance.

Noticing that it seemed to be safe, Hyper opened his eyes and, sure enough, the giant oven was nowhere to be seen. Immediately cleansing himself of the purple substance that covering him with a quick burst of fire, he looked around and spotted the trapped creature from before, sitting perfectly in the middle of the area in it's light bulb prison.

"I guess I won!" Hyper concluded as he approached the creature, "It's kind of refreshing to fight something that can't be defeated by constantly ramming into it."

Once he reached the centre, he looked at the creature that was trapped, unsure as to what it was. The first thing he noticed was the fact it appeared to be discharging electricity through it's two whiskers. He also saw that it looked like a fish, albeit more cartoonish than a regular one. Thinking he should free the poor thing, Hyper readied a punch and quickly broke the barrier that held it captive. Carefully removing the creature from the now broken light bulb, he noticed it was shaking as if it were in the hands of a predator.

"Don't worry little guy. You're safe now." He said with a warm smile.

Still shaking, the creature started to glow as Hyper noticed the small sparks of electricity coming from it's whiskers.

"Uh... What are you doing...?" he asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

Then without warning, the creature discharged a large amount of electricity, shocking the hedgehog and messing up his clothes.

"Ow..." Hyper said weakly as he slowly collapsed and lost consciousness.


	3. Ink or Swim

**Octo Canyon, Tentakeel Outpost…**

Night had fallen on the Canyon, everything quiet and peaceful. No one came to this place, let alone knew about it… Unless you were part of the Squidbeak Splatoon.

Marie had finally gotten some time to relax after the crazy day she had. It's hard to imagine that some stranger found their way into one of the kettles and single-handedly took out an Octo Boss using nothing but their fists. The very thought of such a thing seemed impossible. Checking on her guest, she could tell they were sleeping soundly on the couch, not a single care in the world about what they had gone up against.

"To think someone like that exists…" Marie commented before looking down in thought, "This could be just what we need."

 **The next morning…**

The sun was shining brightly upon the shack as a new day was about to begin. There was a calm breeze, birds were chirping and a lone black hedgehog sleeping soundly on a couch beside a tree. As Hyper slept, a couple leaves fell onto his face, making him sleepily brush them off. Before he could drift back off, his left ear started twitching, waking the hedgehog up. Sitting up, Hyper noticed he was back at the shack he saw earlier. He also felt something relatively soft beneath him.

"The shack…? How'd I get back here?" he wondered, looking at the surrounding area, "The last thing I remember was…"

Hyper's thoughts instantly went back to that fight against the giant oven and how he released that odd fish. Shortly after he rescued it, the thing zapped him and knocked him out. Looking down at his clothes, they looked like they had been struck by lightning, which confirmed what he believed to have happened. As he slowly got to his feet, he could hear splashing coming from the grated manhole nearby. Thinking that it could be one of those humanoid creatures, he hastily hid behind the couch he slept on.

Peering out from behind, he suddenly saw a splash of yellow come from the manhole. It quickly dissipated and what now occupied the space was one of the humanoid creatures. They looked quite young if their size was anything to go by. As Hyper observed the creature, he saw they were wearing some rather strange clothes; A pair of black boots that had orange pieces on the back, a fluorescent yellow hoodie, and a headset that wrapped around the back of their head, with pointed earpieces and a digital pattern that constantly changed. They also seemed to have a container filled with yellow liquid on their back.

Looking even closer, their hair was comprised of two large blob-like things on each side of their head, with four smaller ones at the back. One of the most notable things was the colour of their hair; it was yellow and seemed rather reflective, almost as if it were a liquid. As he watched carefully from his hiding spot, the creature began walking towards the kettles as they brandished a colourful looking gun.

"A gun?! Sure, it's colourful, but should that kid really be carrying such a thing around?" Hyper wondered.

Once the creature was out of sight, the hedgehog carefully got out from his cover and looked in the direction they went. Curious as to what they were up to, Hyper climbed onto a nearby rock formation and watched from above.

Looking around, the young Inkling wondered where they were supposed to meet. She woke up at eight in the morning because of agent business, and since it had been quite some time since the last mission, they figured it must've been important. As their eyes paned over the outpost, a certain agent was standing beside a deactivated machine to the right. Approaching with an obvious lack of energy, the agent waved at Marie with a garbled greeting.

"Ah, Agent 4. Good to see that you're doing well." The Squid Sister greeted, "I guess you want to know why I suddenly called you out here?"

Nodding with a slight groan, the inkling known as Agent 4 tried rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, having a difficult time staying awake.

"Well, as you can see, someone had defeated the Octo Oven and shutdown the gate blocking access to the next area." Marie began, drawing Agent 4's attention to the now inactive gate beside her, "While this does mean we can continue with saving the Zapfish, this was not done by an Inkling."

Confused by what this meant, Agent 4 replied with a questioning sound.

"From what I saw, this creature can touch water and ink, but be perfectly unharmed." She continued, "What's more, they are very quick on their feet."

As Hyper continued to observe the conversation the two creatures seemed to be having, his ears began ringing a bit, causing some discomfort in his head.

"Ugh… What now?" he complained before noticing something odd, "Wait… Huh?"

Looking back at the two, he could swear he was hearing them speaking in an understandable language at some point. It was faint, but behind the garbled mess of noise, he could hear some actual coherent words… Well, one of them seemed to be speaking properly. The kid was still speaking gibberish. Trying to focus on what was being said, Hyper suddenly lost his footing and fell backwards into an open dumpster, the force shutting the lid and trapping him inside.

Alerted by the noise, Agent 4 turned towards the source with their Hero Shot at the ready. Marie also having noticed wondered what it was, then realised who it could be.

"You can head back 4. I'll call when I need you." She said, dismissing the young inkling.

Once Agent 4 had left, Marie made her way back to the shack and thinking about the noise, knew just where to look. She approached the Ammo Knights Enhancifier and opened the lid, revealing a dazed individual laying amongst the weapon parts inside. Reaching in to lift them out, the being accepted the help and got out of the container. As the creature slowly attempted to get back to its senses, Marie just looked at it, taking in any feature it had.

Besides the clothing, it looked to be covered with some odd strand-like things. Its eyes were quite large, and its ears were on the top of its head, rather than on the sides. When she looked at the clothes, they were unlike anything she had seen before; A dark grey jacket and grey jeans, both adorned with orange markings, orange gloves and black shoes that had yellow stripes on the sides, a reddish orange strap and an orange buckle.

"Now that I get a better look, where do they get their clothes from… They don't sell anything like this at the Galleria." Marie thought, admiring the creature's attire.

"Thanks for the hel…" Hyper began before realising who he was thanking.

Before him stood one of those creatures from before. This whole time he was trying to avoid being spotted, but now that he had been, he had no idea what was going to happen next.

"Are… you okay?" she asked.

"Huh…?" the hedgehog replied after snapping out of his daze.

"I said 'Are you okay'." Marie repeated.

"I'm not… sure?" Hyper answered with uncertainty.

He was now confused. Not too long ago, these things were speaking complete nonsense, but now they suddenly started speaking English. Did they know the language, but not normally use it? Before he could dwell on the matter any further, Hyper's legs suddenly gave out and he fell to his knees.

"Ugh… Looks like the fight with that giant oven has caught up with me." The hedgehog groaned, "That thing could really take a hit."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Marie asked again.

"I've been through worse." Hyper answered as he slowly got back to his feet.

Once he had regained his bearings, the hedgehog looked at the figure before him, taking note of their appearance; White hair that was tied up in a bow on the right side of their head, with the loose ends poking out to the left, an odd looking accessory above their left eye that was tied up with a rope of some kind, a very traditional looking kimono that was black and dark grey with various lime patterns, and some kind of sandals on their feet.

"Random question, but can you understand what I'm saying?" Hyper asked, hoping to clear something up.

"Yes." she replied with a curious expression, "Am I not supposed to?"

"No! I mean… yes. Maybe? I swear I could not understand you guys earlier." The hedgehog said, the confusion in his words evident, "I didn't know you knew English!"

"English? I'm pretty sure you are talking in Inkling." The Inkling commented.

"What kind of language is 'Inkling'? I know the names of many languages, but never have I heard of one called 'Inkling'." Hyper stated.

Watching the creature try to understand how the two can communicate with each other, Marie couldn't help but feel that they weren't from around here.

"Just what are you?" she asked.

"The name's Hyper. Hyper the Hedgehog!" he said with a grin, "But more importantly, what are _you_?"

"You mustn't be from around here to not know what an Inkling is…" Marie replied.

"That's what you are? But you look like a human…" Hyper stated, confused by the connection.

Suddenly, a ringtone of sorts began playing, prompting the Inkling to take out a phone with a unique shape. Upon seeing at what it showed, she took a glance at Hyper before looking down in thought.

"I know we just met, but can I ask you for a favour?" she asked, "Normally I wouldn't get strangers involved, but I'm running out of options."

"What's with the sudden question?" the hedgehog wondered, "I mean, I'm all for helping you out, I just didn't expect it."

"Something urgent has come up and my only agent is unable to handle the task safely." The Inkling began explaining, "That's where you come in. I need you go in their place and complete the mission."

"Wait, wait, wait… Agent? What is this, some secret organisation?" Hyper questioned, finding this a tad sketchy.

"I'll fill you in on the way." She stated before grabbing out an odd-looking headset, "You'll need this. It'll help us stay in contact."

Cautiously taking the device, Hyper saw it was like the one that kid was wearing, only it looked to be made with him in mind. Placing the earpiece over his right ear, it began to emit a faint static before clearing up.

"You'll need to take the sewers to get to your destination." She said, pointing at the grated manhole behind her, "Just make sure no one spots you."

As the hedgehog was about to leave, he realised something and turned back to the Inkling.

"You know, I don't recall hearing your name." Hyper pointed out.

Taking a bit of time to decide what to tell him, the Inkling finally looked at the hedgehog with a small smile.

"It's Marie." She answered.

Looking back at her with a friendly grin, Hyper then climbed into the manhole and began his journey.

 **The Reef, Late afternoon…**

The Reef; During the day, it's a place to shop, hangout, and is one of many turf war locales. Once the sun begins to set, it's far quieter. Today, however, the place had been taken over by a sizable group of suspicious people.

Nearby, in an empty alley, a lone manhole cover began to shake before flying into the air, with a black hedgehog jumping out from beneath. After doing numerous front flips, Hyper landed with a marvellous flourish, grinning at his entrance.

"Okay, I'm here. Now what?" he asked, looking at his surroundings.

"It's just up ahead. The place is closed, so there aren't any Inklings around." Marie replied over the communicator.

Making his way down the narrow walk space, Hyper eventually arrived at the location. The first thing he noticed were the numerous puddles of purple around the place, along with several glowing contraptions that had a spotlight on the top of each pointing upward.

"That stuff again? It seems to be everywhere." He commented, his vision panning across the area, "Just what the heck is going on here?"

"The Octarians have set up an extraction point here in hopes of transporting the captured zapfish to their base." The Inkling explained, "You are to take them back and stop their plans."

"Octarians? What are they, a race of octopuses?" Hyper wondered.

"More or less." Marie replied in a simple manner, "Just keep an eye on the Ink. They are likely hiding in it."

Looking back at the puddles of what was apparently ink, the hedgehog wondered how anything could hide in something that covered the ground. Dismissing the thought, Hyper jumped down into the plaza beside some mechanical pad that was lit up with turquoise coloured lights. Looking a bit closer at the machine, the lights were rather dim, almost as if it were low on power.

"Let's see here…" Hyper muttered as he looked ahead for anything odd, "Hmm?"

On the far side of the plaza, the hedgehog spotted three human shaped figures all dressed in armour. Looking at them, he noticed they had rather curly hair that were lined with large, circular studs of some kind. Quickly hiding behind some nearby boxes, Hyper peered out from behind to see what they were doing. Two of the figures were standing before the third discussing something in such a manner that you'd think they were in the military.

"The cargo is secured and ready for transport." One of them reported.

"Excellent! Remain on guard until then." The third replied, sending their subordinates off to patrol, "Everything is going smoothly with the respawn points low on energy. Lord Octavio might have actually done it this time."

As the figures went back to their own jobs, Hyper simply though about how he was going to handle this situation. They were clearly living beings, so he couldn't just go all out with the punches; It didn't matter if they were enemies.

"Is something wrong Hyper?" Marie asked, sounding rather concerned.

"Normally I could just blitz through this, but they are living beings." Hyper stated, "Most of my fighting experience is with machines."

Thinking about the numerous things he could do, nothing seemed to be viable. He could use his pyrokinesis, but he'd cook them alive. The only thing that seemed plausible was to rush in and nab the Zapfish before they had a chance to react. He'd likely be spotted by at least one of the Octarians, but at this point, it was inevitable.

"Well… Here goes nothing." Hyper said, preparing himself.

Over by one of the Zapfish, two of the Octarians were standing guard, chatting rather casually with each other as they did.

"Did you hear about what happened yesterday?" one of them began, "The Octo Oven was taken down by a single person."

"No way!" the second replied, clearly surprised, "I thought someone was playing a prank on me when I heard it."

"But that's not the only thing! Word is, the thing that took it down was unarmed." The first continued, "Crazy, right?"

Suddenly, the machine housing the Zapfish that they were guarding shattered, causing the two Octarians to fall forward.

"What was that?" the second wondered as they picked themselves back up.

Upon looking back at what happened, they jumped in horror to see the machine holding the Zapfish was not only busted up but was now empty.

"Oh carp!" they cursed, "The Zapfish is gone!"

"The boss is gonna kill us when she finds out!" the first added, panicking over what they should do now.

Looking back at the scene from the shadows, Hyper felt a bit sorry for what would likely become of them. Looking down at the creature he rescued, he instantly jumped back in fear as it looked like the thing he saved from that oven. Expecting to get electrocuted again, he carefully put it down and backed up a bit.

"These are Zapfish? Looks a bit smaller than the one that zapped me." Hyper commented, his voice a bit shaky.

"Looks like they are transporting Mini Zapfish." Marie pointed out, "They output an eighth of the energy that a regular Zapfish can, and it appears they have eight held here."

"Any idea what I should do with these things after freeing them?" the hedgehog asked, "I don't wanna get electrocuted again…"

"Let's see…" the Inkling began, thinking of how to handle this, "I haven't come across a situation where multiple Zapfish needed to be rescued before…"

Racking his brain for ideas, Hyper's eyes darted around for a solution. Clearly out of logical options, the hedgehog decided to take it with him. Since he was going to be carrying several of these things, he had to be smart. As he got ready to free the next Mini Zapfish, the one he was holding began to spark, worrying him greatly. Expecting to be on the receiving end of a jolt, Hyper was surprised when it started floating, encasing itself in an orb of energy as it did.

"What the?" he said in confusion, "How is it doing that?!"

"That's strange. I don't remember anything about Zapfish being able to float." Marie added, also surprised.

"Well, let's just hope it can keep up!" Hyper said with a cocky grin.

Mere seconds later, he had rushed towards one of the other Zapfish containers, freeing the critter in a blur of black. Hiding back in the shade, he was pleasantly surprised that the first Mini Zapfish, as well as the one he just freed, were with him. Now that he knew they could stay close, Hyper proceeded to rescue the rest. One by one, the remaining Zapfish decreased until one was left.

"This is way too easy." Hyper commented, "I could do this all day!"

"Don't celebrate just yet." Marie stated, "It seems they are aware of your presence and are guarding the last Zapfish."

Looking over at the remaining spotlight, the hedgehog noticed that most of the Octarians had regrouped and were standing guard around the Zapfish. Wondering how they intended to catch what they couldn't even see, Hyper's expression changed when they armed themselves with various weapons. Some brandished guns with purple tanks attached to them, while others pulled out more bizarre things, such as an oversized paint roller, and a bucket.

"How am I gonna get the Zapfish with all of them guarding it?" Hyper questioned.

"I doubt you'll be able to avoid combat at this rate." The Inkling stated.

Sighing in defeat, the hedgehog began thinking how he would tackle this. Fire based attacks were out, but he could coat himself in flames to intimidate them. Having come up with a plan, Hyper began generating his aura of fire and once fully cloaked, leapt into the air.

"Hey! Up here!" he called out, drawing the Octarians attention.

Suddenly, Hyper shot down towards the ground and landed several metres away from the group, emitting a noticeable amount of heat.

"What is that?" One of the troops wondered.

"I can't tell. It's covered by something." Another replied.

"Whatever it is, it took the Zapfish!" a third pointed out, noticing the seven Mini Zapfish slowly floating around him, "Boss?"

The figure that looked to be in charge stared intently at Hyper as if formulating a strategy. After a moment of silence, she turned to her subordinates, a serious expression upon her face.

"Fire."

The moment the words left her mouth, the group began bombarding the hedgehog with ink, not letting up for even a second. The assault only stopped when they began hearing sounds coming from something on their backs. As the ink settled, the Octarians assumed they had eliminated the figure. How wrong they were… Standing calmly amongst the sea of purple, Hyper stared back with an unamused expression, not a single bit of ink on him.

"And here I thought you were packing heat." He said, disappointed, "You expect to hurt me with those 'water guns'?"

Shocked by the lack of impact they had, some of the Octarians backed up a bit, worried for what would happen to them.

"Just what in the world is this thing?!" a troop yelled.

"I'll be taking that Zapfish now, thank you." Hyper said as he began walking towards the group.

With the hedgehog getting ever closer to them, the Octarians hesitantly blocked his path with their weapons at the ready, despite knowing they had no effect. Having grown tired of the situation already, Hyper leapt over them and landed beside the Zapfish's prison, his fist reeling back for a punch. Before the group could react, the hedgehog broke the machine and within seconds, disappeared without a trace.

"He… He took the Zapfish." An Octarian finally spoke, the situation beginning to sink in.

"What are we gonna do boss?" another added, turning towards their superior.

"I must report this to Lord Octavio." The leader muttered to herself before turning to her troops, "The mission's over. We're returning to base."

Back by the manhole, Hyper began climbing back in once he was certain the Octarians were gone. Going over what just happened, he just felt confused by it all; They seemed to be carrying out their duties like military personnel, but the weapons they had were anything but. As he began the trek back, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on here.


	4. Into the deep end

**Octarian Dome, some time ago…**

"What do you see Agent 4?" Marie asked over the commlink.

Having just touched down in the Octarian dome, Agent 4 quickly regained her senses as she shook off the traces of ink that covered her, looking around for the Zapfish that was said to be here. Spotting the creature in the middle of the nearby platform, the Inkling made a gargled reply as she pointed towards it.

"The Zapfish!" Marie exclaimed, "Though this setup looks familiar… Proceed with caution."

Heeding the advice, Agent 4 brandished her Hero Shot before super jumping to the arena. After landing, the sea of purple ink before her began to ripple as sparks of electricity came off of the trapped fish. Suddenly, a large tentacle shot out of the ink and wrapped itself around the prison before dragging the Zapfish down with it. Mere seconds later, the whole area was bathed in a blinding light, prompting Agent 4 to shield her eyes while trying to stay on guard.

It was then that the young Inkling could spot a shadow that was slowly growing in size coming from the ink. Carefully peering out from behind her arms, 4 could see what stood before her. The light having died down, a massive figure towered over her as it revealed itself to be an Octo Boss; The Octo Oven. Looking on in surprise, Agent 4 backed up a bit to put some distance between the two.

"Looks like the tentacle up there is the source of the trouble!" Marie pointed out, drawing the agent's attention to the appendage on top of the oven.

Within seconds, the tentacle retreated into the machine and it began moving towards 4. Taking the opportunity, she began shooting the ground, covering it with ink while keeping her distance from the Octo Boss. After a bit of chasing, the machine stopped and tried jabbing the Inkling with a loaf of bread, though that proved to be unsuccessful as 4 dodged it in time. Trying two more times to hit the agent to no effect, the Octo Oven finally stopped and attempted to try its luck by sending all its loaves out, leaving itself vulnerable as the tentacle popped out of the top.

"It's wide open Agent 4! Climb up and attack!" Marie commented.

The young Inkling wasted no time in covering the machine in enough ink to climb on top of it and proceeded to shoot the appendage until it burst in a shower of purple. Quickly super jumping back to safety, Agent 4 looked back and prepared to continue the fight.

"Donut stop, Agent 4! You knead to keep…" the Squid Sister began before noticing something odd, "Huh?"

This did not go unnoticed by 4 either, as she was looking at the Octo Oven with a hint of worry. The machine appeared to be shaking rather violently, but it was also beginning to give off sparks of electricity. Suddenly, a bolt arced over to the respawn pad and caused it to short circuit, draining the device of its remaining power. Having realised what just happened, Marie began to panic as that was the only safety net that could keep Agent 4 from sleeping with the fishes… forever.

"Agent 4! The respawn pad is down!" she said with worry laced in her words, "This is starting to get too dangerous! You need to…"

Suddenly, she was cut off when a stray bolt found its way to 4's headset, hitting the right earpiece and breaking it as the Inkling was sent tumbling to the ground. Now overcome with a loud ringing in her right ear, Agent 4 slowly reached her right hand up to it and winced when it made contact. Looking down at her hand, she went wide eyed after she saw small splotches of turquoise ink on it. Now trembling in fear and pain, the Inkling slowly looked up at the Octo Oven as it towered over her, preparing to attack.

"AGENT 4!" Marie shouted as she arrived, a charger in her grip and worry over her face.

Agent 4 looked back at her with a tearful expression, when the Octo Boss suddenly struck her.

It was then that 4 shot straight up from her bed, panting heavily with sweat pouring down her face. Slowly realising that she was at home, safe and sound, the Inkling began to steady her breathing as she wiped the moisture off of her face. Reaching up to her right ear, she shed a tear as reality set back in. Certain that she'd never get back to sleep at this point, 4 looked over at her digital clock and sighed.

"Woomy…"

 **Octo Canyon, Tentakeel Outpost… Again.**

The sun was high as the outpost bathed in a tranquil atmosphere, absolutely nothing going on that could change it. Hyper had crashed on the couch again after his encounter with the Octarians yesterday, having saved eight Mini Zapfish rather easily; He may have been spotted, but all things considered, things went smoothly. As the hedgehog slept, Marie returned from her visit to Inkopolis after looking for information on hedgehogs, having grown a bit curious about what Hyper was.

Making her way towards the shack, the Inkling took a brief glance at the hedgehog before returning to her thoughts, apparently having no luck finding anything on Hyper's species. There was nothing in any records about a creature with incredible agility or control over fire. With what she had to go off of, Marie could safely assume he was not a sub-species of squid. Since that possibility was crossed off the list, she was already racking her brain for more info.

Taking a seat by the shack, the Squid Sister looked at the blue sky and took a deep breath, taking in the serenity of the atmosphere. Whilst she did that, Hyper began to stir in his sleep, drawing Marie's attention towards him. When the hedgehog suddenly rolled off and landed on the ground, he groaned as he placed a hand to his head.

"Ugh… Why do I get the feeling this isn't the first time I've woken up like this…" Hyper complained, "And I was having this weird dream too… Fighting octopus people and saving electric catfish…"

Once he had woken up completely, he looked around and recognised the area he was in, though it wasn't anywhere on Mobius.

"Oh yeah… Not a dream." He admitted.

"I wish I could call it all a dream." A voice added, drawing the hedgehog's attention to the shack.

"Marie? How long have you been here?" Hyper asked.

"I only just got back from Inkopolis. Turns out there's nothing on hedgehogs anywhere." The Squid Sister replied as she walked over.

"You… wanted to know stuff about hedgehogs?" he wondered, "Sure, they aren't common, but there's gotta be enough for basic info, right?"

"Actually, I don't think any exist… at least, not anymore." Marie said as she looked down at that last bit.

Hyper was a bit shocked by that reply. The way she worded that sentence, it seemed there were no hedgehogs where he was, perhaps even from existence.

"Remember when you said I looked human?" the Inkling asked.

"This better not be going where I think it's going…" the hedgehog thought to himself, dreading the incoming explanation, but nodding regardless.

"Well, most of Earth's early inhabitants had gone extinct over 12,000 years ago, most notably, the humans." Marie answered.

"Earth?! _Extinct?!_ _**12,000 YEARS AGO?!**_ " Hyper shouted in shock.

"The rising sea levels were apparently the cause. Not much else is known…" the Inkling finished.

"So, what you're saying is that I've been sent to earth, _BUT 12,000 YEARS INTO THE FUTURE!_ " the hedgehog panicked, looking obviously worried, "JUST HOW THE HELL COULD I HAVE ENDED UP SO FAR AHEAD IN TIME?!"

Looking at the hedgehog, Marie began to feel concerned about his situation. She may not know what he was spouting, but Hyper was clearly in distress.

"Are… are you alright Hyper?" she asked, hesitating due to his outburst.

"I can't even remember what could've happened to get me sent here!" the hedgehog continued, completely ignoring the Inkling, "While Chaos Control could've caused this, I highly doubt the emeralds could send me more than a couple centuries, let alone twelve millennia!"

"Uh… Hyper?" Marie repeated.

"Not even the Time Stones could do that!" Hyper added as he tried to think of how he got here, "It would only make sense that I'm in another dimension!"

"Hyper!" the Squid Sister shouted.

Jumping at the sudden loud mention of his name, the hedgehog snapped out of his panic and looked around for the source. Upon realising it was Marie who brought him back to his senses, Hyper looked at her with a nervous smile.

"Sorry 'bout that. This may be a lot to take in, but this is a _major_ problem." He apologised, "You see, I'm not exactly from here."

"I kind of figured that much based on your reaction to what an Inkling was." Marie commented.

"No, not like that! I mean I'm not from this planet, and judging from the state of it, I'm either in the _very_ far future or in another dimension." Hyper explained before getting to his feet, "I honestly hope it's the latter. Dimensional travel is far more manageable in this scenario."

"Wait, the future? Dimension?! What are you talking about?" the Inkling began before noticing the hedgehog heading for the manhole, "W-where are you going?"

"I'm gonna try and find a way home." He calmly replied.

Realising what this meant, Marie quickly intercepted him and blocked his path, causing the hedgehog to look at her in confusion.

"Look, I'll be honest. Before you arrived, things were looking pretty bad." She began, "That thing you took out the other day, the 'Octo Oven'… It went crazy and took out the respawn pad, which keeps us Inklings from being permanently splatted."

"Splatted? What exactly do you mean by that?" Hyper asked, his curiosity growing.

"Inkling society revolves around a popular sport called turf war, where teams of Inklings try to cover the stage in as much ink within 3 minutes, with the team that covered the most winning." Marie continued, "We use ink-based weapons in such sports, and when an Inkling gets covered in ink of a different colour, they get splatted. The respawn pads are made to revive Inklings when they are splatted."

"So… It's like death?" the hedgehog guessed, getting creeped out when the Inkling nodded in confirmation.

"However, they need power. That's what the Zapfish are for, and we are running out." Marie said with a grim tone, "That's why I needed your help yesterday. I can't risk endangering anyone. If they were to get splatted while there's no power…"

Hyper began to see the bigger picture. This world seemed rather reliant on these Zapfish creatures and whoever, or whatever took them was definitely up to no good. He cringed at the thought of a turf war turning deadly if the power were to run out at the wrong time. The hedgehog had to admit, this was turning out to be much darker than anything back home. Hyper closed his eyes before placing a hand on Marie's shoulder, causing her to look at him expectantly.

"Alright." He said, plain and simple, "I'll help in any way I can."

Taking a moment to register the hedgehog's response, Marie began to tear up a bit as she looked at him with a small smile.

"Whoa! I know this probably means a lot to you, but what's with the waterworks?" Hyper asked, looking a bit worried.

"Oh, it's nothing." The Inkling denied as she wiped away the tears that formed beneath her eyes.

After regaining her composure, Marie looked at Hyper with new resolve, feeling much better after the hedgehog's answer.

"Okay, so first things first, I'll need to see what you are capable of." She began.

Almost immediately after the last few words left her mouth, faint splashing sounds could be heard coming from the manhole. As the two turned to see what was causing the noise, a splash of yellow ink emerged from the hole along with a familiar figure.

"Ah, Agent 4! Perfect timing." Marie said upon recognising the young inkling.

"Is this the agent I was filling in for yesterday?" Hyper asked, looking at the Inkling in question.

"That's correct. Agent 4, this is Hyper. He will be helping us from now on." The Squid Sister said, introducing the hedgehog to the agent.

"Woomy?" 4 replied in a questioning manner.

"Pardon?" Hyper said in return.

"I forgot to mention, Agent 4 doesn't seem to speak properly. Whether it's a speech impediment or personal preference, I don't know. I'm not too sure about the details." Marie pointed out while 4 looked at Hyper, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"No wonder I couldn't understand her back then." The hedgehog thought to himself before facing the young Inkling, holding his hand out in a friendly manner, "Anyway, it's nice to meetcha!"

Cautiously taking his hand, Agent 4's expression softened as she noticed the kind-hearted look in Hyper's eyes; Just by looking into them, she felt at ease. As she let go, Hyper could see the childlike innocence shining through… well, as much innocence as one could have in this world.

"Now that you are acquainted, I want to see how good you are with a weapon." Marie spoke as she held a toy-like gun out to him, "I want you to try shooting those targets over there."

"Oh, I'm _more_ than good with a gun!" Hyper boasted as he took the firearm, "But what am I gonna do with this thing? It looks like something I'd bring out at a get-together!"

Figuring it'd be better to show than tell, the Squid Sister looked over at 4 and nodded, prompting the young Inkling to bring out their Hero Shot. Before the hedgehog could say anything, 4 began to shoot at the first target, quickly coating it in ink until it burst in an explosion of yellow. Genuinely surprised at the power this gun, Hyper looked down at the one in his hands before turning to the targets.

"I think I get the picture now." He said as he got into position.

Now standing opposite the restored orange inflatable, he pointed the Splattershot in his right hand at it, a confident grin appearing on his face. When he pulled the trigger, he had expected some fairly strong recoil, along with a burst of noise…

*Click*

"Huh? It's not firing." Hyper said, confused.

He tried pulling the trigger again…

*Click*

"Am I doing something wrong?" he wondered as he inspected the gun, "You did load this thing up beforehand, right?"

Not paying attention to Hyper's question, Marie walked up beside him and took the weapon, taking a look at it herself. Having thought of a way to test this, she handed it to 4 and asked her to try firing it. With a simple nod, the young Inkling aimed at the target and pulled the trigger, ink now shooting out of the muzzle and hitting its mark.

"So that's why…" the Squid Sister muttered.

"Did you figure out what the issue was?" Hyper asked, curious as to what she was getting at.

"Hedgehogs don't have ink sacs, do they?" Marie wondered.

"Ink sacs? What do you think I am, a sea creature?" the hedgehog asked in mock offense, "But what's that got to do with the gun not working?"

Almost as if trying to answer the question, Agent 4 removed her ink tank and handed it to Hyper.

"Whatcha want me to do with this?" he questioned, confused by what the Inkling was trying to say.

"I don't think that will work, Agent 4. If he doesn't have an Ink sac, it wouldn't matter if he wore an Ink Tank or not." Marie explained.

"Well, it's worth a shot." Hyper admitted, taking the tank and putting it on his back, "But how will the Ink get from this tank to the gun? It doesn't look like the two are connected."

"That's why I believe it won't work for you." The Squid Sister insisted.

"I suppose it'd be better to try shooting first. We'll ask the questions afterwards." The hedgehog concluded.

Taking the Splattershot back from Agent 4, Hyper aimed at the target once more before pulling the trigger. Sadly, the gun simply clicked again as nothing came from the muzzle, despite having shot yellow ink mere moments ago. Knowing that it clearly wasn't working for him, he handed the Splattershot and Ink Tank back to Marie and Agent 4 respectively.

"That was about the result I expected…" the hedgehog admitted, "No idea how 4 was able to get it working, though."

Looking down in thought, Marie wondered what Hyper was exactly. It seemed that he couldn't use ink-based weapons, yet he could go toe to toe with the Octarians just fine without them. Her thoughts were then drawn back to what he had said yesterday.

"Normally I could just blitz through this, but they are living beings. Most of my fighting experience is with machines."

Those words alone showed he was capable of taking his enemies down, but also knew he could gravely injure anyone should he choose to fight them with his abilities. Hyper also said he had experience in fighting machines, but what kinds had he gone up against.

"Oh well. I guess that idea's gone out the window." The hedgehog concluded lightheartedly, "Hope it wasn't the deciding factor in our goal."

"I suppose it wasn't." Marie admitted, "Though with our weapons, there would have been fewer unknowns to work with."

Picking up on her worry, Hyper walked up to her with a reassuring smile.

"If that's all you're worried about, then just send me out on some kind of training mission!" he suggested, "There'll be fewer unknown things to work with if you know what they are!"

Considering the idea, Maire looked at Hyper, who was beaming with confidence, and then turned to Agent 4, who had just finished checking their phone for the latest stage rotations. Looking down for a bit, she eventually figured out an excellent plan of action that could benefit the Splatoon.

"Alright then! But first we should get some things sorted out." Marie began, "While it'd probably be new for both you and any Inklings that see you, you should try to find a place to stay. Sleeping on the couch here is hardly an ideal living space."

This suggestion caused some confusion, as Hyper had only recently gotten here and he was now being told to find his own place.

"While I have to agree on the living conditions, how am I supposed to live anywhere else?" the hedgehog asked, "I'm essentially an outsider here!"

Going into a moment of deep thought, Marie wondered how they'd go about finding a place for him to stay. Since he had a home he needed to get back to, this had to be a temporary arrangement of sorts. Having come up with only one reasonable solution, she looked at the two with a mostly certain look in her eyes.

"If I recall, there are some apartments that are available near the square." she asked, catching their attention, "Agent 4, can I trust you to get Hyper settled in?"

Instead of accepting the task, 4 began making an attempt at explaining that something was wrong, receiving a confused look from Hyper. Upon realising what the young Inkling was trying to say, Marie simply put her concerns to rest.

"Don't worry about money. I'll lend you some to start off." She assured before handing a small bag to the hedgehog.

Accepting the bag, he opened it to see a sizeable amount of gold coins inside. Curious as to what the currency was, he pulled out a single coin and saw it had a curved arrow on it.

"This looks like a lot…" Hyper commented, "How does someone get so much cash around here?"

"Turf Wars are a great source of income for young Inklings." Marie began, providing a lighter perspective on it, "Despite what you may think, Inklings rather enjoy the sport. I suppose you would have to try it to understand…"

Hyper was now a bit surprised, as in this society, there was a sport that was likely paintball turned lethal… and they seemed to _pay_ you for doing it! While it was true that he'd have to try it to make sense of the thought, he was worried about the mental state of this Earth's inhabitants.

"Well, I guess we'll be off then!" he said as he put the bag away.

However, before they could leave, Marie had one more thing to tell them.

"Just to be safe, you should probably avoid using those abilities of yours when you get there." She advised, "You'll likely be drawing enough attention without them."

"No worries! I doubt I'll need them to begin with." Hyper assured.

And with that, Hyper climbed into the sewers, Agent 4 following shortly afterwards. When she was sure they had left, Marie pulled out her phone and began putting in a series of numbers. After a moment of waiting, a voice spoke through the speakers.

"Hello, hello! This is Ammo Knights, the place for all your weapon needs!" they began before realising the caller, "Marie? This is a surprise! How can I help?"

"Sheldon, I want to call in that favour you owe me." The Squid Sister said.

 **Inkopolis Square…**

The two were now standing before the exit that lead into the heart of Inkopolis Square, where there would be plenty of Inklings going about their day. Despite the location, 4 had somehow found the time to get changed into a more casual outfit, consisting of a pair of headphones, a pink hoodie and some brown shoes with orange laces. Drawing his attention to the ladder before him, Hyper was starting to worry about the impending gazes that would greet him up there. Back in that plaza, he didn't have to avoid being seen since no one was there, but this was going to be like walking into a casino; someone was bound to notice him.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this…" Hyper admitted, "I mean, entering the Square for the first time from a manhole?! That'd definitely draw attention my way."

As the hedgehog was mulling over his predicament, Agent 4 simply prodded him, catching his attention before somehow jumping up the opening and through the grated covering. Taking a moment to register the Inkling's actions, it then set in that she was going off ahead.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Hyper called out, throwing concern to the wind as he climbed up after her.

Quickly reaching the top, the bright sunlight met his eyes as he caught a glimpse of the area through the grate. He could see what he assumed was a tower really close by and a couple buildings opposite it.

"Well, I've gotten this far…" The hedgehog mumbled to himself, "No going back now!"

Mustering up the courage, Hyper climbed out from under the manhole cover and got back to his feet. It was then that he could see where he ended up; A rather small square that was lined with shops on one side, and what looked to be an arcade and a recording studio on the other. After admiring the area, he suddenly noticed the many Inklings present. Before he could do anything about the situation though, 4 grabbed his hand and proceeded to pull him along with her.

"H-hey! What's the rush?" Hyper exclaimed, stumbling a bit as he tried to regain his footing.

 **Nearby…**

Off the Hook had recently finished announcing the current stages for Turf War, Ranked and League Battles, but no matter how many times they did it, Pearl and Marina always had something to talk about afterwards. Sitting in the Studio and chatting casually, the two went over various topics that were either trending, or that had happened to them that the other didn't know about. It was then that one of them decided to change to a rather recent subject.

"So 'Rina, got any ideas about what could be happening with those Zapfish?" Pearl asked out of the blue.

"I'm not sure, Pearl." Marina replied, "I heard they disappeared about two years ago as well, but this time they've been gone for quite a bit longer."

"Yeah… If I remember right, they returned a few days after that news flash." The rapper added.

As the two continued their conversation, Marina spotted something, or rather some _one_ , out of the corner of her eye. From a brief glance, they looked rather dark in colour. As she took a closer look, her eyes widened a bit. While she continued to look at the figure, Pearl began poking her a bit.

"Hey Marina!" she called out.

"H-huh? What is it Pearlie?" she replied a bit hastily.

"Wanna get something to eat before the next rotation?" Pearl asked, overlooking her partner's daze.

Looking back at the person she saw, she thought for a moment before looking back at the rapper.

"You go on ahead. There's something I want to check out." Marina answered.

"'Aight. I'll meet you at the Crust Bucket, 'kay?" Pearl said as she began heading towards the door.

"Alright. I shouldn't take too long though." The DJ assured.

Once Pearl had left the studio, Marina looked back to see that the figure was leaving the square. Curious as to what it was, she left the studio to go and find out.

 **Back with Hyper and Agent 4…**

"Okay, can you try and explain why you thought that was a good idea?" Hyper asked after he and 4 ducked behind the rearmost building.

As expected, the Inkling's reply was incomprehensible, as everything that came from her mouth was a garbled mess. Though he couldn't understand what she was trying to say, 4 had a look of concern upon her face that likely meant she was looking out for him. After calming down a bit, Hyper looked at the Inkling with a hint of regret.

"Sorry. I guess I got caught up in the moment." He apologised, "You could've given me more warning though."

Having quickly made up with each other, the two then began to head away from the square. Before they could make any progress however, two rather angry looking Inklings passed by, intentionally bumping into Hyper as they ignored his presence.

"Hey! Mind watching where you're going?" the hedgehog called out to them, causing them to stop walking.

"You got a problem with us, punk?" one of them asked aggressively as they looked back with a glare.

"Lacking in common sense _is_ a pretty big problem." Hyper retorted, "A shame you have to be reminded of that fact."

Apparently having struck a nerve with that comment, the two Inklings had turned to face the hedgehog, allowing him to get a good look at them. Their clothes weren't anything special, though they both wore some shades that did a fairly good job at hiding their gazes. While Hyper simply looked at them with a serious expression, 4 seemed a bit worried by them.

"What did you just say?!" the Inkling questioned in a slightly sinister manner.

"I'm pretty sure you heard me just fine." Hyper stated, "You wouldn't have turned around otherwise."

Seemingly becoming more aggravated, the Inkling lowered their shades so his eyes could be seen in full.

"You might want to apologise if you know what's good for you…" He said, supposedly threatening the hedgehog.

"What for? _You_ bumped into _me_!" Hyper retorted.

The two Inklings were now slowly inching towards the hedgehog, one of them making a fist that he sent into his other open hand. While not worried in the slightest, Hyper remembered what Marie said earlier. He definitely wasn't about to literally roast these two, and while running seemed like a good option, they'd likely follow him if he did make a break for it. It was then that he came up with an idea, though these two 'Punks' would have to be gullible enough for it to work.

"Ya know, this could be considered intimidation. I heard you can get into trouble with the cops for this… In fact, there they are right now!" Hyper said as he pointed past the Inklings.

Falling for the bait, they quickly looked behind them, worry plastered upon their faces. As their backs were turned, Hyper quickly grabbed 4's hand and sped off into a distant alley. Once the Inklings realised there were no cops, they turned back around to see that the punk was gone, along with that Inkling girl that was with him.

"What the…? Where'd they go?!" they shouted in confusion.

Nearby, Hyper was carefully listening in on their reactions, quietly snickering to himself. They seemed to be looking around for the two in a surprised manner, though with where the hedgehog had gone, they wouldn't be seeing them again anytime soon. After a while, the two Inklings gave up and left, Hyper looking back at 4 with a cheeky grin at the results.

"I can't believe that worked!" he admitted, "But then again, there's nothing like a close call to getcha blood pumping."

4 looked back at him with a questioning expression, seemingly wondering why he even called the two out on their intended collision. She was considered a level 7 battler, and those two might've been in the 30 to 40 area, maybe even higher.

"Well, since we don't have to worry about those guys, what do you say we get back on track?" Hyper suggested as reached for the bag of coins, "H-huh? Where are they? I'm pretty sure I put them right here…"

Noticing that the money wasn't where he put it, the hedgehog began to panic. After checking himself completely, Hyper began to look on the ground for the bag with no luck.

"How could I have lost it?!" he wondered, "I'm sure I had it in a safe spot!"

While the hedgehog was franticly searching for the missing money, a lone figure approached them from the main path, catching 4's attention as she looked over in surprise.

"Is this what you were looking for?" the stranger asked in a rather shy manner.

Turning to face the newcomer, Hyper instantly noticed the familiar looking bag in their hands. Upon seeing the shine of gold in it, he walked over and took a closer look. Sure enough, it was the very same bag that Marie had given him.

"I-it is!" Hyper exclaimed, looking very much relieved as he took the bag from them, "Thanks for finding it. I didn't think I'd lose something as small as this."

"Oh, it's no problem." They assured, before randomly perking up, "Just curious, are you new around here?"

"I suppose so." The hedgehog chuckled as he began to look at the stranger, "What makes ya say that…"

Upon setting his eyes on the person, he paused for a bit as he quickly tried to register who was in front of him. They were a bit taller than him and the first thing that caught his eye was their attire; They wore a very minimalistic jacket of sorts that bore a large zipper, as well as a pair of black, fingerless gloves, and by the way the jacket showed off their figure, Hyper could safely assume they were female. She also wore some rather odd-looking shorts (if they even were shorts) that transitioned into teal tights. Her footwear on the other hand, was more basic in design, wearing a pair of black boots that had a zipper on the outward facing side of each boot.

It was when he got to her face that he became shocked and confused. The four tentacles that made up her hair had suction cups on them, just like those Octarians he encountered yesterday. While he was certain that they were of the same race, this particular one looked more passive, perhaps even friendly. What kind of sold that fact were the headphones that she was wearing. Besides, why would an enemy look like a DJ?

"I-is something wrong?" she asked, worried about Hyper's moment of pause.

4 was also trying to snap him out of the trance he seemed to be in. After a bit, he regained his senses and looked around rather hastily.

"Huh, what?" The hedgehog blurted out, before realising the stranger looking at him with worry, "N-nah, not at all! You just remined me of something I saw some time ago. The name's Hyper!"

As he introduced himself, Hyper held out his hand in a friendly manner. Looking at this person, the stranger could tell they were overly friendly, the carefree grin on his face lending to that fact.

"I'm Marina." She said while accepting the handshake, "And to answer your earlier question, I'm still fairly new to Inkopolis too!"

"I totally getcha! It's quite the experience to end up in a totally new place." Hyper commented, "Though like a friend of mine would say, exploring new places is part of the adventure!"

Upon hearing that sentence, Marina let out a lighthearted laugh, finding his words rather comforting. After calming herself, she suddenly remembered something rather important.

"Sorry to cut this short, but I promised to meet up with a friend for lunch." Marina said a bit hastily.

Before she could leave though, Hyper's stomach began growling, much to the hedgehog's surprise.

"I guess _I_ haven't eaten in a while." He admitted with a look of guilt on his face, "Now that I think about it, what _can_ I get to eat around here…?"

Taking note of the hedgehog's hunger, 4 pulled out a pair of tickets showing an image of three coins and an upward facing arrow. Hyper had noticed this, but before he could ask the Inkling about them, she ran out of the alley and back the way they came from.

"Okay… No clue what that was about." He plainly said.

"You don't know what she was holding?" Marina asked, receiving a no in reply, "Those are food tickets. By taking them to the food truck nearby, you can get some food that comes with neat perks!"

"Perks? The food in Inkopolis has useful side effects?" Hyper wondered.

"I suppose you could say that." She said before beginning her explanation, "The tickets your friend had can get you a Double-Fried Super Shwaffle, which can get you twice as much cash from battles when eaten. They only last for twenty battles though."

Hyper was now intrigued. There was apparently a food truck in Inkopolis that sold food with helpful perks, one of which being increasing ones payout from turf wars; But just how can eating food do something like that?! This world just kept getting more interesting.

Ignoring his hunger for a bit, Hyper took some quick glances around him, and when he was certain that no one was present, turned to face Marina.

"This might sound odd, but I got a question for ya." The hedgehog said, looking a bit serious, "I just didn't wanna ask with the kid around."

Marina perked up at Hyper's words, wondering what he could possibly want to ask. For whatever reason, she could feel the atmosphere become rather tense, though she tried to shake it off as nerves. What she heard next caused her to freeze up.

"You wouldn't happen to be an Octarian, would you?"

Despite the hedgehog asking in a curious tone, the words alone held all the information that Marina could process. Her eyes widened in slight horror as she figured that her cover had been blown. As she remained frozen, Hyper saw that she probably wasn't going to handle this well.

"Marina? You okay?" he asked, trying to get through to her.

Noticing that his words didn't affect her in the slightest, the hedgehog did the only other thing that seemed helpful at the time. Carefully placing his hands on her shoulders, Hyper lightly shook her back to reality. This worked, as she was no longer frozen in fear.

"Sorry… I had no clue you'd freeze up." Hyper apologised, guilt plastered over his face.

"How… do you know?" Marina asked, barely able to speak.

"Uh… You look like the Octarians I saw the other day." The hedgehog replied, "But you seem much, _much_ nicer. Those guys tried to coat me in ink the moment they saw me!"

"So, they are likely behind the Zapfish disappearing this time too." The 'Octarian' mumbled to herself.

"You know them or something?" Hyper asked.

"N-no, not really." Marina quickly dismissed, "While I _am_ an Octarian, I'm actually an Octoling."

"Octoling, huh? You're basically an Octopus version of an Inkling." The hedgehog said as he summed up the information, "Though why the reaction? Is being one a bad thing?"

"It's a long story…" the Octoling said in a disheartened tone, "Just please don't tell anyone."

"No worries." Hyper assured with a soft grin, "This hedgehog will keep your secret safe."

"Hedge… Hog? You aren't an Inkling _or_ an Octoling?" Marina asked, having perked up at his species reveal.

"Of course not! These quills of mine can attest to that!" he said while running a hand along one of them.

Now that she got a closer look, Hyper's 'quills' as he called them, lacked the suckers the Inklings and Octolings had; While he had six of them on his head, Marina began to think it was purely a coincidence, as when added up with his arms and legs, it matched up with the number of limbs an Inkling had perfectly. Further differentiating him from an Inkling, his head was mostly covered in thin, black strands, with some oranges ones forming certain patterns around his eyes and along his quills.

"So…" Hyper began, "You said you were meeting up with a friend?"

Marina suddenly remembered what she was doing before that question, quickly turning to rush out of the alley.

"Thanks for reminding me! I have to go, but maybe we'll see each other around!" the Octoling said whilst rushing towards the square.

"Yeah… See ya around!" Hyper called back, waving with a nervous smile.

Now that Marina had left, the hedgehog was left alone with this new knowledge. According to Marie, the Octarians were involved with the Zapfish going missing… But the one he had just met was rather friendly. Also, the way Marina reacted to being discovered as one made it seem that there was at least some animosity between the two races, and the one likely housing such views seemed to be the Inklings.

"There's more to this than I first thought…" Hyper muttered, trying to sort through the info in his head, "But how does this all piece together?"

As he continued to decipher the meaning behind the words, 4 had arrived holding two items in her hands, both looking like a combination of ice cream and a deep-fried meal. Catching the hedgehog's attention with a simple garbled sound, the Inkling walked over and handed one of the supposed 'Double-Fried Super Shwaffles' to him. As he accepted the meal, he was instantly intrigued by the seemingly odd clash of dessert and deep-fried; Normally one would never consider putting ice cream on top of such a dish, but here… it seemed like it worked.

"Thanks for the food, 4. I'm lucky to have someone like you to look out for me." Hyper thanked, looking back at his meal in anticipation, "I suppose this is my first meal in Inkopolis. Let's hope that it's good!"

Taking a bite out of the Shwaffle, he instantly felt the flavour hit his tastebuds; The ice cream melted on his tongue while mixing with what seemed to be deep-fried shrimp, making what he would never consider eating alone quite palatable. Eagerly taking another bite, Hyper was currently in bliss, with 4 looking over while wearing an amused expression before digging into her own meal. After a couple minutes of eating, the two then set off for their destination.

 **In an Unknown location…**

"So… They've got a new agent?" a sinister voice said whilst watching something.

The mysterious figure seemed to be looking at a recording, which happened to show the Octo Oven. What had their full attention, however, was the dark creature battling it. They lacked weapons, but that didn't seem to affect them, as they were somehow able to run around at incredible speeds and deal just as much damage with their body alone. They also survived being coated in ink, which intrigued the mysterious figure.

Suddenly, a nearby door opened to reveal an Octoling elite running into the room, seemingly exhausted from the trip.

"Lord Octavio! We have urgent news!" the elite spoke, attempting to steady their breathing, "The strange creature has taken back the Mini Zapfish that were scheduled for transport last night!"

Upon hearing the report, the one known as Octavio turned around to reveal himself; a rather large, red octopus of sorts wearing a samurai-esque helmet that was adorned with an octopus.

"Did your team at least gather information on the creature?" Octavio asked.

"We couldn't tell what it was, my lord." The Octoling elite replied, "They were too fast to see, and when they did show up, they were cloaked in something that hid their figure."

Sighing at the unhelpful insight, Octavio just looked back at his subordinate with angry eyes.

"Anything else?" he said plainly.

"During the raid, the figure did not engage any of my team." The elite continued, "Even when they confronted us, they did not attack."

Now he was intrigued. Octavio looked back at the recording, paused on a shot of the creature charging at the Octo Oven with a readied fist, and began to wonder what this thing was. If they were an agent, surely they would have been equipped with a weapon, as well as one of those suits they like to wear. It was then that he had an idea.

"I have a job for you and your team." Octavio said, looking at the Octoling with an expectant expression, "You are to gather information on this… 'agent', and report your findings to me. You are dismissed."

With an understanding nod, the elite left the room with haste, leaving the Octarian King to his thoughts. Whatever this thing was, he had to be ready.


	5. Controlling the Chaos

**Inkopolis, Arowana Mall…**

Some time had passed since their meal, as they were now heading towards the apartment building that would likely be Hyper's new home away from home. The path they were taking had lead them to a mall by the shore, and just by looking at the place, the hedgehog questioned why such a place would look like it does; it seemed oddly symmetrical for a mall, and he could swear he saw one of those mechanical devices he came across on last night's mission at one end.

"We just about there, 4?" he asked, "While this isn't too far from the square, especially for me, I kinda want to get this over with."

Agent 4 nodded before pointing at a building in the distance. Following the Inkling's finger, Hyper spotted a fairly tall building that looked to be situated just opposite the nearby beach.

"So that's the place? Looks like a real nice view to me." The hedgehog commented, already thinking about waking up to the sounds of rolling waves and flocking seagulls.

As he said that, Agent 4 looked down in unease. Luckily for her, Hyper hadn't noticed, but she snapped out of her thoughts when she saw the hedgehog walking off ahead.

"You coming or what?" he called out, "Much as I hate to admit it, I'm kinda lost without you!"

Deciding it'd be best to not keep him waiting, the young Inkling ran off after Hyper as they got closer to their destination.

 **Beachside Apartment…**

This was it. Hyper now stood before the entrance to the building, which looked fairly basic; at least 3 floors lined with a number of balconies, some of which had seats set out to face the vast ocean on the horizon. If anything, the hedgehog felt anxious, as there was bound to be many encounters with people native to this world. Agent 4 looked over at him and noticed the look on his face, at the very least understanding a bit of what he was going through.

There was a point in nearly every young Inkling's life where they would leave home and set out for Inkopolis, and this was true for Agent 4. When she arrived, she was nervous and shy, overwhelmed by the atmosphere of what would be her new stomping grounds. It's almost nostalgic standing outside the apartment, as Hyper looked to be somewhat like 4 back then; worried about what would happen next. Gently tugging on the hedgehog's jacket, the Inkling gave him a concerned look, though with a hint of reassurance.

"Alright…" he began, swallowing his fears, "Let's get this over with."

Mustering up the courage he needed, Hyper took a step forward, prompting the doors to slide open, revealing the main lobby. Unfortunately, he instantly froze when all the people currently inside turned to face him.

"This is EXACTLY what I was worried about!" he internally cursed.

That one moment was all that it took for the various individuals to start talking amongst themselves, occasionally taking quick glances at the hedgehog whilst they did. Before things could end up more awkward for Hyper, 4 ushered him towards the main desk, much to his hesitance. As they got closer, he could tell the receptionist was curious about him, but was still keeping an air of professionalism. Once they got to the desk, the Inkling woman on the other side looked at 4 with a casual smile.

"Ah, Miss Reika. You seem rather energetic today. Putting more time into Turf Wars I take it?" she addressed, receiving a shy nod in response, "It's a shame that they might not be continuing for much longer, with the missing Zapfish and all."

"So that's her name…" the hedgehog thought while looking at 4, or rather 'Reika', with a surprised expression.

Reika seemed to look a bit down at that last comment, and as Hyper could guess, it was probably because she was unable to complete her mission.

"And who is this? I don't believe I've met someone of your description." The receptionist added, now giving the hedgehog her full attention.

"Oh, uh, the name's Hyper!" he replied with a hint of nervousness, "It's nice to meet you."

"A pleasure. Now were you by chance looking for an apartment to stay in?" the Inkling woman asked.

"Yeah, though I don't have any furniture to bring in, let alone any belongings." Hyper admitted.

"That's not a problem. All apartments have the usual necessities, so you shouldn't have to worry about sleeping on the floor." The receptionist answered, giving off a light-hearted chuckle at the last comment.

"Great! What's available right now?" the hedgehog asked, now seemingly unfazed by the scenario that was a minute ago.

"Let's see…" The woman began, trailing off as she looked through the list of apartments, "Ah, here we go! One of the outer apartments are available. And wouldn't you know it, it's just beside young Reika's!"

Upon hearing this, both Hyper and Reika donned a look of surprise. In Hyper's case, he discovered that the Agent beside him lived in this very building. The Inkling in question, however, was more shocked as not only would she be working with Hyper, but it was very likely that they'd live in the same building, and next-door neighbours at that.

"Well ain't that a surprise." The hedgehog commented, "I suppose I'll be okay with that."

"Alright then. Now, just so you know, the rent for the apartment in question is 300 coins a month." The receptionist stated.

Hearing the price, Hyper pulled out the bag of cash Marie had given him and for a moment, wondered how much was in there, as from a quick glance, it seemed like a lot, perhaps 100 coins at least. Placing it onto the desk, the hedgehog could only give a nervous smile, as he hadn't thought to count how much was in the bag or even ask Marie about it.

"I hope this is enough. I honestly have no idea how much is in this." Hyper admitted, clearly showing a bit of embarrassment.

Taking a moment to examine the bag of cash, the receptionist looked to be doing a great job at counting the many coins inside, especially given she wasn't taking any of them out. After a while, she accepted the payment and looked to the hedgehog with a gentle smile.

"Looks to be exactly 300." She confirmed.

"Wha… Really?" Hyper asked, amazed by how she did that.

"I may not look like much, but I have a knack for counting. Why, back in my younger years, I was able to guess the exact number of coloured treats in the jar." The woman replied, reminiscing about her childhood, "Anyway, since the starting payment is out of the way, I'll need to give you your key."

Reaching into one of the drawers in the desk, the receptionist grabbed out a rather simple looking key with a tag attached to it. When handed the key, Hyper looked at what was written on the tag, but couldn't really make it out.

"Since you are next door to Miss Reika, she can show you the way. I look forward to seeing you around."

And with their business concluded, Hyper and Reika moved away from the main desk so the woman could help anyone else that need it. There was a brief moment of silence between the two, until the hedgehog decided to speak up.

"So… Reika, huh? It's a nice name." Hyper commented, causing the Inkling to lightly blush, "Back home, people tend to have names alluding to an aspect of themselves. Now, mind leading the way?"

Before the two could leave the lobby however, a few Inklings approached them, specifically Hyper.

"Excuse me, but where did you get that gear? I've never seen anything like it!" A female Inkling asked, admiring the hedgehog's clothing.

"I'm sorry, what?" Hyper wondered, caught off guard by question.

"That mask even moves when he talks! It looks so lifelike!" a male one added.

"Mask? What are you talking about?" the hedgehog questioned, now getting a bit overwhelmed.

"What kind of weapon do you use? You look like an Inkbrush kind of guy!" another male commented.

"I, uh… Reika! A little help here!" Hyper pleaded.

Suddenly, the young Inkling grabbed onto his arm and pulled the hedgehog away from the trio, leading him up the nearby stairs. Once the two were on the second floor, they stopped to recover from that scene.

"Thanks… They just kept asking questions." Hyper said, glad to be out of that situation, "What'd they even mean by gear? All I got is the clothes on my back."

It was then that Reika pointed at the hedgehog's clothes, namely his jacket and shoes.

"Footwear and clothing are considered gear?" he wondered, "What's so special for them to be classified as such?"

"Gear is fitted with various abilities, which can affect how you fight, how you move, and how your weapon performs." A voice suddenly answered, "Odd that you don't know about abilities, given your gear seems to possess a full set of Run Speed Up."

Surprised by the outside response, Hyper turned to face the stranger and looked at them questioningly. The Inkling that stood before him had a fairly dark complexion, while they wore a white leather jacket, some knee length baggy pants and a pair of tan coloured work boots. They also had a welding mask that was sitting atop their head, currently flipped up to show their face.

"Run Speed Up? I'm fast all on my own!" Hyper stated, only slightly boasting about his natural speed.

In response to the hedgehog's reply, the newcomer looked intently at him, supposedly examining him.

"You say that, but I'm seeing an entire set of Run Speed Up attached to your gear." They reiterated before dropping the subject, "Either way, you must be new around here. The name's Cradle."

"Cradle, huh? Well it's nice to meetcha. I'm Hyper." The hedgehog introduced, "This here is Rekia."

Upon hearing her name, the young Inkling waved in a shy manner.

"Well then, Hyper… I have a question for you." Cradle began, "What type of weapon would you use to take advantage of that speed?"

"What type? I just use whatever I got on hand." Hyper answered honestly, "Though I guess anything I can swing around would be my go-to."

It was then that the Inkling began to think for a moment, possibly considering the answer he got.

"I see." He simply said, before walking towards the stairs, "I hope to see you again soon."

And with that, Cradle was gone, leaving the pair to wonder what he got out of that question.

"Well that was weird. I wonder why he wanted to know what kind of weapon I would use?" Hyper thought aloud, genuinely confused by the Inkling's query.

Remembering what they were doing beforehand, Reika continued to show the hedgehog to the apartment he would be staying at, which was on the third floor of the building. Once they had arrived, Hyper saw the tag's writing on the door, but just like before, he couldn't tell what it said. As he examined the door, the hedgehog was snapped out of his thoughts when Reika called out to him while opening her apartment door, entering and closing it behind her.

"Uh… okay." Hyper said, unsure as to what she was trying to say.

Now he was essentially on his own again. Sure, Reika was right next door, but it felt like he was dropped into the middle of the ocean; He had no way to get proper help. Wanting to get at least some rest before the training mission he suggested, the hedgehog unlocked his apartment door and took his first steps into his new residence.

 **Literally next door…**

Well today was already going nothing like she expected. When Reika woke up this morning, she never would have thought she'd be helping… whatever Hyper was, with finding a place to stay. Now that she thought about it again, just what _was_ he? He didn't seem to have any knowledge of Inkling society, and from what Marie had told her before, he could go into water without any negative impact to his body. If she was going to work with him, she'd need to know what he was, and that training mission would likely give her some answers.

Setting herself down on the loungeroom couch, Reika grabbed the TV remote and turned it on, showing what looked to be some kind of news segment. While she wouldn't normally be interested in this stuff, Reika went wide-eyed when she saw the headlines.

"Just recently, a Rainmaker match had been postponed when one of the respawn devices suddenly stopped working. Luckily, all participants involved were unharmed, though future matches are likely to be canceled." The reporter announced, "Because of this development, further Turf War matches will be on hold until the issue is resolved."

It was already happening. Inkopolis was running out of power, and because she was caught off guard by the Octo Oven, the Zapfish won't get recovered in time. Her thoughts went back to that mission, a single phrase going through her head.

'Could I have done something different to prevent this?'

Looking down at her phone, it was 1:24pm, meaning if she could tell Marie about this, something could get done about this. Though she said Hyper was quick on his feet, right? He could save the Zapfish in no time. Quickly rushing out the door, Reika began knocking on her fellow Agent's door, believing that if she were quick, things would get better.

 **Hyper's apartment…**

The very first thing Hyper did once he got inside was crash on the couch. While he had fought giant mechs and maybe the occasional scuffle with certain individuals, just getting here was more exhausting than he thought. At the time, all he really cared about was getting some rest. Unfortunately, something was against him, as at least a minute after getting comfortable, he heard rapid knocking on the door.

"Ugh… Visitors already? At least let me sleep for an hour." Hyper complained, attempting to return to his slumber.

Sadly, the knocking continued, prompting the hedgehog to get up in a slightly irritated mood.

"Fine, fine, I'm up!" he said, making his way to answer the door.

Upon opening it, Hyper was met with Reika dragging him into her apartment, not even giving him a chance to lock his door, let alone close it.

"What's the big idea? I was just starting to get some rest!" he called out, his anger starting to seep into his words.

Reika then directed his gaze to her TV, which was currently on the news, which was only evident by the setup; all the 'words' were complete nonsense. Watching the broadcast, Hyper began to realise what was going on. The reporter was currently at some skatepark and from what she was saying, the problem the Splatoon were trying to prevent was starting to happen. Respawn pads going down. No Turf Wars. No safety nets. No power.

"You've gotta be kidding… It can't be happening already!?" he said in disbelief.

Indeed, it was. Now the hedgehog was completely alert, despite his earlier tiredness. Without uttering so much as a word, Hyper rushed into his apartment, instinctively using his speed to do so, and turned on his own TV. As he suspected, it also showed the respawn pad issue, only now it was showing a crowd in front of that tower in the square. From what he could see, the building had been closed off and was being guarded by at least five older Inklings.

"Something's going on and I'm gonna find out what!" Hyper said before rushing back to Reika's apartment, "Come on, Reika! We're heading for the square!"

With a simple nod, the two got ready and left for the square, receiving some curious looks from some bystanders.

 **Inkopolis Square…**

"Please calm down! Turf Wars will be back up and running once everything is sorted out!" One of the older Inklings said, hoping to ease the crowd before them.

"But with the Zapfish missing, how can you hope to solve this?" a young turf battler questioned.

The scene wasn't getting any better, as at least a dozen more Inklings had joined the crowd in the last few minutes, not including Hyper and Reika, who had just arrived. Looking at the situation in person, the hedgehog could tell how big a deal turf wars were. He had never really been one to get involved with these kinds of crowds, but if his goal as a member of New Squidbeak Splatoon was to bring back Inkopolis' power source, he'd need to find out as much information as he could.

"Man, this is really bad. I'd say we've got our work cut out for us, but I don't know how _anyone_ could save enough Zapfish to fix this in a few hours." Hyper confessed.

While he wasn't being entirely truthful, the hedgehog knew that even he couldn't get the job done with what information he lacked. For starters, the Zapfishes' locations were unknown; You could be the fastest thing alive, but if you didn't know where to go, it wouldn't mean a thing. Man, it sure would've been great to at least have Tails around. He could put together a Zapfish radar or something using the Zapfish… Or _maybe_ …

"I GOT IT!" he suddenly said, catching Reika by surprise, "Follow me! I got an idea!"

Hyper rushed around the crowd and climbed into the sewers, prompting the young Inkling to follow suit.

 **Octo Canyon…**

Marie was looking at her phone in worry. She received a notification for a news app she had and saw the issue regarding the respawn pads. To think things were getting this bad already. Just as the Squid Sister was putting her phone away, a loud clanging came from the manhole, prompting her to see what was going on. To her surprise, Hyper and Agent 4 were standing by the entrance, with the hedgehog looking somewhat exhausted.

"Agent 4. Hyper. Had you seen the news?" Marie asked.

"Yeah, about that..." Hyper began, managing to steady his breathing, "I may have something to fix this."

"You do?" the inkling questioned.

"While it might be a long shot, I'm sure they can provide Inkopolis with energy long enough for us to get the Zapfish back." The hedgehog stated, "Just make sure word doesn't get out about this."

Before the two could ask what he was talking about, Hyper closed his eyes and within seconds, seven multi-coloured objects appeared in a flash of light, somehow floating as they slowly spun around him. Marie and 4 looked at these things in awe, each of them giving off a brilliant glow of green, red, blue, yellow, purple, light blue and white respectively. They also noticed that they all had black patterns that would best be described as a cage, possibly keeping the inner brilliance contained.

"What… are those?" Marie finally spoke.

"They are the Hyper Emeralds; Seven gemstones of incredible power." Hyper began, grabbing the light blue emerald and showing it to the Inklings, "Back home, they could be used to power various machines… Which should buy us enough time to recover the missing Zapfish."

"So… they can serve the same purpose as a Zapfish?" the Squid Sister wondered.

"Oh, they can do _much_ more than power a simple flood light. With just one emerald, I can slow the flow of time around me." He stated, putting away the other six and raising the emerald in his hand to the sky, "Just watch. CHAOS… CONTROL!"

In a flash of light blue, Hyper had disappeared, leaving Marie and 4 bewildered as they tried to find where he went.

"Ya see…" the hedgehog continued, drawing the Inklings' attention to the rock arch that he was now lying down on top of, "These things are able to do some amazing stuff. And I would know! I kind of have a connection to 'em."

Looking at Hyper lying on the rock formation, casually juggling the emerald in his right hand after having just been at ground level with them mere seconds ago, Agent 4 was now extremely curious as to what he was and what he could do.

"So…" He said as he leapt back down, putting the emerald away as he fell, "If that isn't gonna do the job, then we'd need to get rescuing, pronto!"

Marie looked at the hedgehog inquisitively, wondering what kind of world would have such powerful items; Whatever it was, she was interested in learning more about Hyper.

"Alright, but how exactly do you expect to power Inkopolis with those things?" the Inkling asked.

"Well… I'd say we hook 'em up to the city's power network… or whatever you guys have." The hedgehog suggested.

Now this raised a bigger problem, cause while the Splatoon worked with the Zapfish before, they didn't really know if they needed to be anywhere in particular to power Inkopolis… The Great Zapfish, however, was a different story. Most of the time, it would be resting on Inkopolis Tower, though it moved to Deca Tower when the Square became the new hotspot. Now that she thought about it, the fact that it would come and go as it pleased raised the question of how it powered Inkopolis; It was never seen hooked up to some machine, but when it was stolen the last time, _he_ used it to power his…

"I think I have an idea." Marie said, catching the Agents' attention, "The Zapfish alone aren't able power Inkopolis. The Great Zapfish is the one that handles most of the power, and it usually stays around the tower in the Square."

" _Great_ Zapfish? I suppose it makes sense that the Zapfish I've come across couldn't handle such a task." Hyper commented, "So you're saying we hook the Hyper Emeralds up to that tower? That's great and all, but it would be better if they weren't out in the open… perhaps in a less busy area?"

Suddenly, Marie got a brilliant idea. The plaza was more or less a ghost town, which would be the perfect place to keep those gems. Even better, since Inkopolis Tower was the last resting spot for the Great Zapfish and is hardly used anymore, they could provide energy from there.

"I know just the place. Just give me a minute to get ready." She said before rushing into the cabin and shutting the door behind her.

Now that the two were done talking, Agent 4 tried to get Hyper's attention by tugging on his jacket.

"What's that matter?" he asked, unsure of what she was trying to tell him.

In response, the young Inkling drew the shape of an emerald with her fingers, meaning she probably wanted to look at one of them.

"You wanna take a look at one of the emeralds?" Hyper asked, receiving a nod in confirmation, "Well, okay… Just be careful with it."

Pulling out the yellow Hyper Emerald, the hedgehog carefully handed the gem to the Inkling. The moment the emerald touched her hand, 4's hair lit up, wildly flapping as if there was a strong wind, while the top of her head appeared to be bubbling. Caught off guard by this, 4 unintentionally let go of the Hyper Emerald, though Hyper was luckily able to catch it before it hit the ground. Almost as quickly as it happened, the Inkling's hair returned to normal.

"What the… heck was that?!" the hedgehog wondered, baffled by what had happened.

"Did something happen?" Marie asked, opening the cabin door to reveal her new attire.

Looking at her, she was wearing a much more casual getup, consisting of a lime Cap turned to her right, a white facemask, a plain black dress beneath a lime jacket, lime tights and black laced shoes.

"I just gave 4 one of the emeralds to look at, then her hair lit up." Hyper explained.

"Lit up? In what way?" the Squid Sister questioned.

"Well… Her hair started glowing and flapping all over the place, and the top of her head seemed to be… bubbling?" the hedgehog summed up, still confused as to what that was.

"It charged up 4's special?" Marie said in disbelief, "But her weapon doesn't have a set special weapon…"

"Special weapon? Sounds like something from a video game." Hyper commented.

"To be brief, a special is an ability or weapon that is stronger than a normal one, but it needs to be charged." The Squid Sister explained.

"So… like in a video game." The hedgehog replied.

"I'll tell you more about it after we deal with this power crisis." Marie said as she made her way to the manhole, "We don't have time to waste!"

Once she was on top of the cover, Maire seemingly fell through in a splash of lime, followed shortly after by 4 doing the same. Hyper was really starting to wonder what exactly an Inkling was, as whenever he saw the young Inkling enter the sewers, she always entered in a splash of ink. Pushing those thoughts aside for now, the hedgehog climbed in after the two.

 **Inkopolis Plaza…**

"You mean _this_ is the place?" Hyper asked as he looked at the tower.

"That's right. 2 years ago, the Great Zapfish rested on this very building." Marie explained, "I had a thought that because it used to stay up there, Inkopolis Tower would be a perfect place to have those emeralds power Inkopolis."

"I suppose that makes sense. Maybe there's something up there that draws power from the Zapfish." The hedgehog speculated.

"Either way, we need to find a way up there." The Squid Sister pointed out.

"I think you mean _you_ need to find a way up. I already know how _I'm_ getting to the top." Hyper said as he stretched.

"How could you possibly have a way to get up there?" Marie questioned.

"Like this!" he replied.

Suddenly, Hyper leapt towards the tower and upon landing, began running up the length of the building until he reached the first observation deck. Marie and 4 just looked up in surprise, as they would have never expected him, or anyone, to be able to do something like that.

"Need any help getting up?" Hyper spoke through his earpiece.

"N-no, we'll be fine." Marie replied as she turned to 4, "We'll just super jump to you."

"Super Jump? What do you mean by…" the hedgehog began, until he noticed something circling around his feet, "The heck is this?"

Without warning, a sound he could only describe as a firework launching came from below, and he quickly noticed two coloured trails shooting up into the sky; one lime and the other yellow. Almost as soon as they came into view, they appeared to have hit the apex of their shot and were now heading towards him. Looking down at his feet, Hyper noticed the circling marks were lime and yellow as well.

"I should probably move." He stated.

Moving out of the way just in time, the two figures began to form into Marie and Agent 4, and within a few seconds, they landed in the spot where Hyper had just moved from.

"What the…? How did you do that?" the hedgehog asked, surprised by how the two caught up.

"We just compress our bodies, then jump." Marie simply replied, "How did _you_ manage to get up here?"

"It's a little something called 'Parkour'. Comes in handy when speeding through the places I've been through." Hyper elaborated, "Speaking of, I'm gonna need to do a bit more to reach the top. See ya there!"

And with a grin, the hedgehog continued to scale the building, and was able to easily reach the top in no less than a few seconds. Once again, the two Inklings were amazed at the level of skill Hyper seemed to possess, along with how he carried himself through these situations; it was like he had done this kind of thing before. After super jumping to the hedgehog's location, they could see him lying on the roof with his back against a lone pole. Once he realised they were here, he climbed to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Are you guys sure you're able to keep pace with me?" Hyper jokingly asked.

As the hedgehog looked for a way into the observation deck, Marie wondered how he could do what he does with little effort, nor any noticeable fatigue.

"Now that I'm getting to know him a bit better, Hyper seems very energetic." she thought to herself, "He reminds me of…"

"Yo, Marie! You coming?" the hedgehog called out as he opened a hatch into the observation deck, snapping the Squid Sister out of her thoughts.

"Of course I am!" the Inkling replied, following Hyper into the hatch, with Agent 4 going in after her, "And just to be clear, we use codenames during missions."

"Codenames, huh?" the hedgehog wondered as he landed inside, with the other two following soon after, "Mind telling me yours if you don't want me using you name?"

"It's Agent 2." Marie answered, "And since you are in the Splatoon now, you'll be known as Agent H."

"Agent H? Why not 'Agent 5'?" Hyper questioned as he began to look around the space, "And if you're Agent 2, and she's Agent 4, then where's 1 and 3?"

Suddenly, the hedgehog was cut off as 4 pointed towards something in the centre of the room. Looking at the object, it seemed like some kind large, circular pedestal, the length of which was wrapped in what looked like a metal coil.

"Could _this_ be the thing that could draw energy from that Great Zapfish thing?" Hyper wondered as he examined the object.

"Maybe? It looks rather primitive." The Squid Sister commented.

Getting a much closer look at this 'device', Hyper noticed seven cables coming from it, each going in a different direction. As his gaze followed one of them, he could see another pedestal, though this one was smaller. It was then that he noticed six others, each hooked up to the one in the centre of the room.

"There's eight of them…? I guess a single device can't conduct the energy alone." The hedgehog pointed out.

"You're right. Though why eight?" Marie wondered.

"Whatever the reason, it reminds me of the altar back on Angel Island." Hyper commented, looking down in thought, "Maybe… this could work like that."

With a plan in mind, the hedgehog walked up to one of the outer pedestals and summoned one of the Hyper Emeralds. Hesitating for a bit, he eventually placed the gem atop it and waited for a result. Suddenly, the coil began to light up in the emerald's colour, likely showing that it was working.

"Well, it _looks_ like it's working…" Hyper said, unsure if it really was.

"I'd say so…" Marie added, "Just be careful with the others. Who knows what could happen with more of them powering this thing."

Nodding in reply, Hyper carefully placed the remaining emeralds on the other pedestals, waiting between each for any noticeable reactions. When nothing odd happened, he breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he didn't cause any damage.

"Well that's all of 'em. Nothing we can do about that last one, though." The hedgehog stated, watching the pedestal in the middle of the room, "Just gotta leave them to do their thing."

"How will we know if it worked?" Marie asked.

Almost as if to answer her question, the ceiling lights lit up.

"I'm pretty sure it worked." Hyper commented, looking at the lights with a content smile, "Now we better cover up these windows. I _REALLY_ don't need anyone finding these."

With the Hyper Emeralds in place, the three closed the curtains of the deck and after making sure everything was okay, they climbed out onto the roof. Upon getting to her feet, 4 quickly took out her phone and began to check the map rotations. What was empty some time ago, was now listing Turf Wars, at the most. Also of note was the notice at the top of the screen stating 'Turf Wars are in limited access', with the more detailed description saying that power has suddenly come back on, though Turf Wars are being monitored for safety checks.

"Now with that done, we should be able to rescue the Zapfish without much worry." The Squid Sister spoke, "I suppose the next thing to worry about is how we're going to get them back, as Octo Canyon won't be receiving power from the emeralds."

"We should probably head back then, and maybe get a head-start on that training mission." Hyper suggested.

"You're right. Just because we have those emeralds, doesn't mean they can handle the task forever." Marie agreed as she looked down at the empty plaza below, "You're able to get down from here, right Agent H?"

"Heh… Just watch me!" the hedgehog said with a grin.

Not wasting any time, Hyper leapt off the rooftop and began to fall towards one of the tower's legs. As the two Inklings looked down in worry, he easily landed on the support beams, grinding down it before jumping towards the manhole nearby and skidding to a stop upon landing.

"See! What did I tell ya?" he said into his earpiece after dusting himself off, "Now let's get moving! The Zapfish aren't gonna save themselves."

Marie and 4 eventually joined Hyper at ground level and began the trip back to Octo Canyon, with the hedgehog eager to get started.

 **Inkopolis Square…**

"Yo 'Rina!" Pearl began, getting her partner's attention as they headed back to the studio, "Seems like they got that respawn issue sorted out. Looks like we won't get the rest of the day off."

"I don't know Pearl. This seems like it was resolved a bit too quickly." Marina commented, "N-not that it's a bad thing! I just think something's going on."

"Well of course something's going on! The Great Zapfish is still gone!" the Inkling added, "No one knows where it's gone, but no one's really gone and tried to find it."

"Maybe…" the DJ pondered.

As the two returned to the studio reception area, Marina began to think about what was really happening. Last time, Octavio stole the Zapfish as payback for losing the Great Turf War but was defeated; she couldn't quite remember the details, but that song was playing back then. Since they've gone missing again, it's very likely he's back… But how? Her thoughts went back to that Hyper character she met earlier today. He looked to have come from that manhole by Ammo Knights, and when she ran into him, he seemed to know about Octarians. The only ones that had any direct involvement with the Octarians were…

"Hey Marina! We gotta announce the stages!" Pearl called out, snapping the DJ out of her thoughts, "We only have to cover the Turf Wars this time, but make sure the folks know what's happening."

"O-okay!" Marina replied before following her partner into the Studio.


	6. Getting fired up!

**Octo Canyon…**

"Ya mean we gotta go down there?!" Hyper questioned, looking out at the floating landmasses below.

"Eventually. For now, you and 4 be heading into one of the kettles up here." Marie replied, "Since this is more of a training exercise, a cleared one will do just nicely."

The Squid Sister looked over at the nearby entrances, thinking of which one would be suitable. The very first one that Agent 4 had entered was a good place to start, but something made her think against it. The lone kettle on the far right could also be an ideal training course, but she remembered how jittery 4 was when she got back. It was then that Marie looked at the one on the far left, surrounded by grated fences. It was relatively calming in the atmosphere it gave off, and if what she knew was right, it would be the perfect place to test a certain theory.

"So, what are these 'kettles' gonna be like? I only ever went into that one with the giant oven." Hyper wondered, looking back at the one by the entrance.

"You'll see for yourself once you get there. "Marie stated as she pulled something from a bag, "Before you go, this is for you."

Accepting the item, the hedgehog noticed it was a fluorescent hoodie that strangely had two large cuts on the back. It was then that he realised it was likely there for his spines to poke through. In complete honesty, the hoodie didn't look like something he'd wear very often.

"Not to sound rude, but is there any reason I need this?" Hyper asked as he looked at the piece of clothing.

"It's more or less a form of protection. For Agent 4, the Hero Suit will take any fatal blows in her place, though she would become vulnerable if that ever did happen." The Squid Sister began, "Since you aren't as prone to harm as her, you only need the Hero Hoodie."

"Right…" the hedgehog said doubtfully as he changed, handing his jacket to Marie for safe keeping.

Once he was done, Hyper began to test the material by doing some stretches, having no trouble with moving his arms around, which was surprising considering the arms didn't flare out like his own attire.

"Huh. Would you look at that. It fits like a glove! _(And all I did was cut holes into an old hand-me-down.)_ " Marie commented, internally saying that last part as she pulled out another item, "I also had some time to make a more fitting headset."

Accepting the new device, Hyper could only look at it in silence. It had a pair of triangular shaped cones on what looked like a fairly big head band that flashed with various patterns of the back, with the forward-facing plates coated in tan paint.

"Why does it look like a headband with cat ears slapped on 'em?" he asked.

"The earpiece you used before was made last minute, but since I had more time, I was able to make it fit better on you, as well as add another earpiece." The Squid Sister explained, "Since you aren't going on any proper missions right now, it will do for now."

Putting on the headset, Hyper felt oddly comfortable wearing them as they fit snugly around his ears. Despite how basic it looked, they were clearly made specifically for him.

"I suppose I'm okay with it. At least let me decide how it looks in the future, okay?" he added as he made his way to the kettles, "Come on 4! Let's get going."

Before Reika could join him however, Marie had stopped her while wearing a serious expression.

"Agent 4, this will be the first time you'll be heading into a kettle since that incident. Are you sure you're ready to get back in there?" the Squid Sister asked.

Almost completely confident in herself, 4 nodded back with a look of determination.

"Alright." Marie acknowledged, "I'll be here if you need me. Now show him how it's done!"

With those last words of encouragement, the young Inkling raised her Hero Shot into the air with a cheer before heading towards the kettle, the Squid Sister looking on with a smile as her two Agents leapt into their training.

 **Welcome to Octopia ~ The Summer Wind Rises ~**

Not too long after jumping into the kettle, Hyper now found himself freefalling into a wide-open tropical setting with beaches dotting the edges of the area, a large pool of water doing a rather fine job of imitating the sea. Then there was the simulated sky, achieved by using what looked to be humongous TV screens littered along the walls. When it came to first impressions, this place was scoring pretty well.

Looking down, the hedgehog could see Reika waiting beside a greenlit device. Believing that to be the starting point, Hyper began to angle himself towards it. Once he was closer to the ground, he opted to soften his fall, curling up into a ball and bouncing somewhat lightly upon touchdown.

"Wow. Didn't expect such a place to be down here." He commented with a whistle before turning on his headset, "Hey Mari- I mean Agent 2… 4 and I have arrived safely."

"Good." Marie replied, "So today, you'll be running through an obstacle course of sorts. Your objective is to reach the goal and collect the Zapfish dummy held there. Just remember that if you ever need help, me or 4 can provide assistance."

Looking ahead at the supposed 'Obstacle Course', he could see several isolated sections, with roughly half of them having a good deal of verticality. It was then that he set his eyes on the first obstacle, consisting of some crates stacked up against a wall along with an oddly inflated fish between them.

"Well, it's certainly not the craziest path forward." Hyper commented as he got into a running stance, "This'll be a piece of cake!"

Not wanting to wait a second longer, the hedgehog ran off ahead and climbed up the nearby wall, rushing past the crates and balloon-like fish. Upon reaching the top, he planted a hand on the ledge and vaulted onto the higher ground, stopping and looking back afterwards to check on Reika who looked on in awe.

"Yo, 4! You coming or what?" he called out, "I could give you a hand if ya want…"

Shaking herself out of her stupor, the young Inkling ran down toward the balloon fish and promptly shot at it, causing it to grow in size before exploding in a shower of lime that coated anything nearby. Shortly afterwards, she popped out from behind the wall and landed before the hedgehog.

"Not bad, not bad. But let's see if you can keep up!" Hyper complimented before leaping up to the second ledge.

Seeing the hedgehog clear these early obstacles so effortlessly, Reika began to feel energized as she felt the need to keep up with him. Shooting the nearby sponges, they began to grow bigger while being coated in lime ink. Once they were big enough, the Inkling seemingly phased into it and after a moment, emerged on top of it.

"Nice work you two. Seems like you've already got the hang of this." Marie commented.

"You have _no_ idea." Hyper thought to himself as he looked towards a third ledge, "Just wondering, is this gonna get any harder?"

"I'd say this is one of the easier kettles, but it depends on what you can do." The Squid Sister replied.

"Is that so?" the hedgehog wondered.

Looking ahead, the path appeared to head to the right after the next raised platform, which lead to a rather tall wooden structure. Before making a move however, Hyper noticed a lone balloon floating above the floor ahead, which gave him an idea to show off a certain technique.

"Hey 4!" he called out, getting the young Inkling's attention, "You see that balloon over there? Let's just say I'm about to show ya something cool."

Once he was sure Reika was watching, Hyper leapt into the air and once he was high enough, began to spin as fast as he could. Suddenly, he shot towards the balloon and within seconds, collided with it, popping the balloon while being propelled higher from the force. Shortly afterwards, Hyper landed with finesse, acting rather relaxed despite what he had just done.

"So… How was that?" he asked as he turned to face Reika.

While he was expecting an impressed reaction, the look upon the Inkling's face just screamed complete and utter awe, so much so that she unknowingly dropped her weapon.

"W-what… was that?" Marie asked over the communicator, clearly surprised by the hedgehog's actions.

"Oh that? It's called a Homing Attack!" Hyper answered with a grin, "If you've ever seen a heat seeking missile, it's kinda like that, only much more controllable."

"A Homing Attack…" the Squid Sister pondered, "Can it be used against living creatures?"

"I mean, it can be… I just tend to use it against robots and mechs." The hedgehog replied, before adopting a dejected expression, "I hate to imagine getting my quills stuck into anyone."

"Hmm… I'm starting to see why you avoided combat back then." Marie commented.

"The thing is, I am more experienced with machines, or people who can take a lot of punishment." Hyper stated as he jumped back down to Reika, picking up her weapon and handing it back to her, "Anyway, where to next?"

"Well, just past the first checkpoint is a fairly high wall that you will need to climb." The Squid Sister stated, "While the Balloon Fish are still there, the Octarian ink that they would cover isn't."

Climbing up to the first checkpoint, Hyper noticed it looked like those devices he kept seeing, except it was simpler. Doing the first thing that came to mind, he stepped onto it thinking that something would happen; nothing did.

"Is this thing supposed to do something when stepped on?" the hedgehog asked as he stepped off of the device.

"I mean, they should activate when stepped on." the Squid Sister replied, "Is something wrong with it?"

"Well, when I think of checkpoints, I expect it to light up or do something to show it's been activated." Hyper began, tapping his foot on the device as he spoke, "Since it's not doing anything, I doubt I'm able to use it."

Noticing this, Reika looked at the checkpoint in confusion; Usually when she stepped on these, they would light up in her colour, but for some reason, it did nothing for Hyper. While there was another way to see if it worked, the thought alone sent shivers down her back.

"Hmm… Perhaps the reason for that is the same as why you couldn't use a Splattershot." Marie guessed.

"Maybe… Doubt I'll need it though. "the hedgehog concluded with a light boast, "If these kettles are gonna be anything like the Zones back home, rescuing the Zapfish will only be a matter of time!"

"'Zones'? Just what kind of world are you from anyway?" the Squid Sister questioned while Reika silently examined the checkpoint.

Before Hyper could give an answer, the young Inkling jumped in surprise, catching the hedgehog's attention.

"What's wrong, 4?" he asked before noticing the cause, "It's… working?"

The checkpoint, now lit up in lime from Reika activating it, seemed to be working, though to say that would be a bit of a stretch; the device's lights kept flickering every so often, likely suggesting something was wrong with it. Wondering what exactly was happening with it, Hyper cautiously tried tapping the checkpoint with the tip of his foot. When his shoe made contact with the face of the device, he could hear a distinctly wet sound coming from that spot.

"What the…? Is that Ink on it?" he questioned.

"No surprise there." Marie commented, "When stepped on, checkpoints start generating a small pool of Ink in the colour of whoever activated it."

"Okay, I'm gonna have to stop ya right there." Hyper interrupted, "From what I've heard, you use Ink as a form of attack, but I've also seen at least a few instances where the stuff has been painted on walls and the ground in rather linear paths. Not only that, but I've noticed you guys don't climb under the grated manholes, instead disappearing in a splash of Ink. That brings me to my question; Just what _IS_ an Inkling?"

There was an obvious air of silence surrounding the agents, so much so that the light crackling of the communicator seemed to echo throughout the area. It was then that Marie let out a sigh, preceding the answer that Hyper was looking for.

"Inklings are essentially an evolved race of squids, similar to the Octarians, or rather 'Octolings', that you saw before. While we use Ink in our weapons, it serves another purpose." The Inkling began.

Almost as if she was silently instructed, Reika lightly nudged the hedgehog before pulling out a disc shaped device and tossing it forward, the object sliding along the ground and leaving behind a trail of lime ink before slowing down and exploding, splashing more of the substance on the ground around where it was last. Before Hyper could say anything, the young Inkling began to seemingly turn completely green, her figure changing into something smaller and closer to the ground. Once she was done, Reika gave off a gargled sound, drawing the hedgehog's attention towards her new 'form'.

"Woah…" he uttered, looking at the Inkling's new shape.

Reika was now completely coated in lime ink, with the only exception being her eyes. The top of her 'head' was pointed with two other protrusions on either side of her eyes. At the other end, there were the two blobs of hair that lay flat on the ground coming from the main body, with at least four smaller appendages just below the eyes, likely taking the place of a mouth.

"Inklings, and by extension Octolings, can morph their bodies into a form more reminiscent of our original species." Marie continued, "In this form, we can pass through grates, swim in Ink and Super Jump to certain locations."

Next, Reika jumped into the trail of ink she made and seemingly disappeared into it, almost as if the ink somehow went into the floor. Watching closely for where the young Inkling went, Hyper spotted a barely noticeable disturbance in the trail, making a faint ripple wherever it went. Then in a splash of ink, a humanoid figure rose from the pool, quickly taking the form of Reika. Now it was Hyper's turn to remain speechless, though in his case, he was going over this new information.

"So that's why… That skate park must've been an obstacle course of sorts for Inklings." The hedgehog thought, "That also explains the Ink that was in the sewers."

"So that's the gist of it." The Squid Sister finished, "I'm certain you could find out more in your down time."

As Reika walked back over to Hyper, he looked at the surrounding area once again, only this time he realised how the place seemed to be built with Inklings in mind.

"Okay, I'm gonna be honest and say I held back to see what you could do." The hedgehog admitted before turning to the young Inkling, "How's about we race to the finish? It could be a great warmup."

Looking at Hyper with a curious expression, Reika could see a look of adventure in his eyes, something she lost after that incident. When she started out with the Splatoon, she could barely get through a kettle without her nerves getting to her, though she pressed onward. This 'hedgehog' however was more confident, seemingly unfazed by whatever situation he found himself in; he'd have to be if he could beat the Octo Oven without any weapons, at least from what Marie had told her.

"I know that look, but you've got nothing to worry about." Hyper spoke, snapping the young Inkling out of her thoughts, "Sure we've got a job to do, but that shouldn't stop you from having a bit of fun."

"He's not wrong…" Marie chimed in, "While we _do_ need to rescue the Zapfish, it not healthy to push yourself."

They did have a point. Jumping back into what was essentially a war without the proper mindset could end horribly. Now that the young Inkling thought about it, she hadn't taken part in any turf wars since then; she could never really find the confidence. This, however, was something that didn't involve gunning down enemies, as all she had to do was reach the goal before Hyper. Having made up her mind, she turned to the hedgehog and gave a nod, looking somewhat fired up.

"Alright then! Our goal is that Zapfish dummy that is set up over there." Hyper began, pointing towards the glowing orb in the distance, "Whoever gets there first is the winner. And hey, maybe once we're done, you could show me around Inkopolis."

Giving a look of acknowledgement, Reika looked at the surrounding course and began planning a route in her mind. The only way to get to the dummy was through a series of linear segments, so unless there was a path she didn't know about, that'd be her only option.

"Alright then, are you two ready?" Marie asked, receiving a confirmation from the two in response, "3… 2… 1… GO!"

And with that, Hyper burst forward, throwing Reika off balance with the sudden start. Wasting no time at all, the hedgehog zipped past the Balloon Fish and leapt onto a nearby stack of crates, before climbing to the top of the wall, leaving the young Inkling bewildered.

"Alright, where to no—" Hyper began before noticing the 'dead end', "Oh you gotta be kidding me!"

Looking at the platform he stood atop, the only thing there that stood out was a pool of lime ink. While he had a good view of the surrounding area, it wasn't clear where he needed to go to next. As he tried to think up his path, the distant sound of exploding ink splatters could be heard, the last two of which preceded Reika's arrival.

"Hey 4, you've been here before. Mind tellin' me where—" the hedgehog tried asking before Reika dipped into the ink pool, shooting up into the sky shortly afterwards, "The hell?!"

Watching as the Inkling soared through the air, Hyper noticed it was like back at the tower. Marie and Reika performed a 'Super Jump' as they called it, which somehow allowed them to reach the top of the tower. As he thought about it, Reika began to dive towards the ground, supposedly the next leg of the course and within seconds, touched down before proceeding onward.

"Ugh… Looks like I'm gonna have to do this the hard way." He groaned, looking down the next checkpoint, "Look out below!"

With that last shout, Hyper stepped off of the platform and began plummeting towards the pool of water, a somewhat irritated look upon his face as he fell. Mere seconds later, he hit the water with a splash, causing Reika to freeze up from the sound as he went under. Forgetting about the race, the young Inkling backtracked and looked down at the spot where the water was most disturbed, a look of fear upon her face. It was then that her expression changed to that of shock, as Hyper resurfaced, looking perfectly fine as he used his arms and legs to keep himself afloat.

"If this is what I'm dealing with, I should get a different outfit." The hedgehog casually commented before noticing Reika looking down at him, "What? You got your way of getting up there, this just so happens to be mine."

Hyper began to swim towards one of the supports and upon reaching the closest one, started climbing, with Reika watching in awe. After a while, the hedgehog had reached the main platform, stepping onto the next checkpoint before looking down at his wet attire.

"Great… I'm gonna need a shower when I get back." He complained.

It was then that he realised Reika was still there, her expression unchanged from before.

"You gonna keep staring at me, or are we gonna race?" Hyper asked as he attempted to dry himself, "I mean, if you wanna lose, that's fine too."

Once he was finished, the hedgehog started down the path, leaving the young Inkling to process what she just saw. Marie _did_ mention that Hyper could touch water and be completely unharmed, but she didn't say anything about being able to _swim_ in it! What's more, he seemed more annoyed about his outfit than anything.

"So it seems I was correct." The Squid Sister chimed in, startling Reika with the sudden comment, "Sorry for the scare, 4."

Shaking off the nerves, the young Inkling replied in a questioning manner, supposedly wondering about Hyper.

"While I had a theory that he could enter a body of water unharmed, all I had go off of was my encounter in the sewers." Marie continued, "I chose this kettle for that very reason, though I had my doubts of whether or not he would end up in such a situation."

Watching the hedgehog traversing the course ahead, he looked like he was a natural born athlete; apart from the amazing speed, he was climbing up walls and swinging from anything he could reach to get to his destination. And then there was his newly discovered immunity to water. While she had never seen anyone swimming in water due to the obvious, Hyper was seemingly a pro at it.

"You should probably hurry on after him." The Squid Sister reminded, "You _are_ in the middle of a race after all."

Upon hearing those words, Reika snapped back to her senses before rushing after the hedgehog, hoping to maybe reach the goal before him.

The next few minutes went by rather quickly, with Hyper taking every possible path to shorten his route, even running along walls that could not be inked. The only real problem he had was whenever he reached those ink pools, one of which somehow remained on the side of a wall, there was no clear indication of where he had to go. Because of this handicap, the hedgehog was forced to wait for Reika to catch up, then watch where she landed next before swimming over there.

When he finally reached the next area, Hyper only just caught a glimpse of his fellow agent jumping towards the next one, which was just beside the current one. While that meant he wouldn't have to jump into the water again, it was higher than what he was standing on.

"Ugh… I'm starting to think this place makes less sense than Mobius." Hyper said with a groan, "Guess I got no choice here."

Looking down at his hands, he thought about whether or not it was absolutely necessary to go through with this plan. The only other option was jumping into the water again, and since it would waste time, and because he _really_ didn't want to get wet again, there really was no other way. Clenching his fists, the hedgehog then looked up at his target. With a look of determination, Hyper ran towards the ledge and before reaching it, leapt as high as he could. While the higher platform wasn't too high, the distance between the two blocks of footing made this jump impossible… However, this wasn't a simple jump.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he neared the platform. As he got even closer, Hyper's hands began to radiate a strong amount of heat, visibly turning the air around them orange as an intense aura formed. Mere milliseconds later, they were completely obscured by it, the only way to tell they were hands being its shape. Suddenly, as he thrust his arms downward, a fierce jet of flames burst from his palms, rocketing him upwards and higher than the numerous sections of the course.

As he shot upwards, Reika spotted the scene from the corner of her eye, nearly at the goal, and stopped to see what was going on. Looking at the trail of grey and orange, she spotted Hyper, shooting into the air in a similar manner to that of a Super Jump.

"What in the…" Marie said, completely caught by surprise, "So he _can_ Super Jump?"

Shortly afterwards, Hyper hit the apex of his 'jump' as he began to descend towards the ground below. Normally he'd be able to sort this kind of situation out, but…

"Grr… Still… can't control… it… Augh!"

As the hedgehog fell, he was in serious pain, his gloves now trailing smoke as they burnt away to reveal his hands beneath, noticeably darker in comparison to his chest and muzzle. In too much pain to worry about his landing, Hyper helplessly fell towards the next checkpoint.

"What is he… oh no. 4! You need to catch him!" Marie called out, "I don't think he can land safely!"

Nodding in response, Reika began to make a mad dash to the start of the section, swimming across the rows of lime-coated sponges in an attempt to get to him in time. At this point, she wouldn't make it before the hedgehog ended up…

No! She couldn't be thinking like that. She _shouldn't_ be thinking like that! Doing the last possible thing that came to mind, Reika shifted into her squid form and began to compress her body as fast as she could. Within seconds, the young Inkling had shot into the air in a trail of lime, rocketing towards the falling form that was Hyper.

Now she had to get this _just_ right. Changing between her squid and humanoid forms was relatively easy, but it was much harder when the air was whipping against your barely solid body; It took lots of focus and one slipup could end in you becoming a coloured mess on whatever surface you flew into. Sure, Inkling's didn't have any bones, but that didn't mean you wouldn't feel it the next morning.

As she got closer, Reika's body began to slowly change its form, her humanoid limbs struggling to take shape against the air trying to push her back. Hyper was practically in front of her, yet her body wasn't complete yet. The whole world seemed to slow down as the Inkling inched towards the hedgehog, her pained face barely showing through the mess of lime ink.

I guess this is it.

I failed again.

Just like before…

"AGENT 4!"

Suddenly, Reika instantly reformed, reaching out to Hyper and catching him mid-flight, grunting in surprise at the swift change in direction they took. Relief flowed over her now that she had gotten to him in time. That feeling, however, quickly gave way to worry, as they were falling quickly towards the course's starting point. Preparing herself for the next change in velocity, the young Inkling shut her eyes tightly and gripped onto the hedgehog in her arms. With a heavy thud, the young Inkling's feet hit the ground, sliding a short distance before skidding to a stop.

There she stood, her legs barely able to support the combined weight of the two. Reika's mind was still racing from the stunt she just pulled, and never in her life would she have thought that she'd do something so risky. Looking down at the hedgehog she held in her arms, he didn't seem to be moving, his hands tightly closed as they gave off a noticeable amount of heat.

"How's it look 4?" Marie spoke up, breaking the silence completely, "Is he still conscious?"

"Ugh… Barely." A voice spoke weakly.

Looking down in surprise, Hyper had pulled through, looking up at the young Inkling with a pained look on his face.

"Can't say I've ever been rescued like this before…" he commented with a weak chuckle, "Would ya mind putting me down, though?"

Reika obliged as she tried to help the hedgehog to his feet, barely able to stay on her own. Now relieved of carrying someone, the young Inkling suddenly dropped to her knees, seemingly having spent what energy she had left.

"Woah! You okay ther—" Hyper instinctively reached out until the pain in his hands came to light, "Augh… Ow. Kinda forgot about that for a moment…"

Looking down at his now bare hands, the hedgehog couldn't help but wonder if he had jumped in underprepared. For one, Reika was able to move swiftly from one section to another with those ink pools, while he had to take the long way around. Secondly, if there were going to be any obstacles like the one that caused this, he was likely screwed.

"You doing okay H?" Marie asked, albeit with a staticky interference.

"I'll manage." Hyper replied, "It's said that you shouldn't play with fire, but that's kinda my whole shtick."

Thinking about what this session revealed, the Squid Sister believed the hedgehog was _more_ than capable of helping out the Splatoon; He was fast, he was strong, and above all else, he was experienced. The only issues revolved around ink; He was unable to use any of the Splatoon's weapons, nor could he swim in ink, at least as far as she knew. Hyper also opted to climb up onto any grated platforms instead of moving through them. The most glaring issue was with the Jump Pads. The hedgehog might've decided against using them but given the fact they were racing at that point, and the stunt he just pulled, it was safe to assume he was unable to do so.

"I reckon that'll be it for today. You can head on back." Marie said.

"Alright then. Let's get—" Hyper began, until he realised a major problem, "Wait a minute… How _do_ I get back…?"

Reika, now having regained the strength to stand, nudged the hedgehog before holding her hand out to him. Cautiously accepting it, he was suddenly rocketed into the sky as the Inkling flew them towards the opening they came from. Within seconds, Hyper burst through the grated covering, flying a bit further upward before landing headfirst into the concrete.

"Owww…" he groaned as he slowly collapsed onto his stomach.

After landing herself, Reika rushed over to the hedgehog as she tried to see if he was alright, making a questioning sound as she knelt beside him.

"Imma just… stay down 'ere for a bit." Hyper answered weakly with a raised hand, before letting it fall limply to the ground.

The young Inkling just watched him in worry, feeling a bit guilty about his current condition. She'd never really carried anyone in her squid form during a super jump before, but there was that small part of her that believed it'd be okay if she did…

It was not.

"Looks like you made it back in one—" Marie started as she approached the two, before noticing the unconscious hedgehog lying beside the kettle, "…piece."

This now presented another problem; Returning from a mission.

Back when she found Hyper after his bout with the Octo Oven, he was lying unconscious beside the kettle just like he was now, but there was no clue as to how he got back up, with the Zapfish he freed seemingly gone by the time she got there. If he couldn't get back by himself, then she couldn't send him into the kettles anyway.

"4, you should head home for now. I'll keep an eye on Hyper tonight." The Squid Sister assured as she went to pick up the hedgehog in question.

Reika looked back at him with worry, before hesitantly heading home, leaving Marie with the task of patching the hedgehog up. As she carried him towards the couch, she felt a strong, stinging sensation on her shoulder. Looking at the spot, she realised the headset she gave Hyper was still wet and was giving off some static. That would be something she'd get to later, as right now, she needed to sort some things out. After placing the hedgehog onto the couch, she carefully removed the headset and hero hoodie before heading back into the shack, deep in thought about Hyper's abilities.

"So he can swim in water, run at incredible speeds, control fire, and even climb up surfaces that cannot be inked…" Marie began, "However, he cannot use ink weaponry, nor can he interact with ink in the same way we do…"

Having a rough idea of what she needed, the Squid Sister grabbed her phone and began to punch in a series of numbers, waiting for several second once she finished.

"Hello, hello! This is… Marie? What excellent timing!" Sheldon answered, recognising the number midway through his slogan, "I was able to make a functional prototype of your order and it should be ready for pickup tomorrow!"

"That's great news, Sheldon." Marie replied before remembering why she called, "Though that's not why I was calling."

"Oh? Is there something else you needed?" the Horseshoe Crab questioned.

"Do you remember the type of device one of my agents used?" The Squid Sister hinted.

"Do you mean…" Sheldon began, before realising what she was talking about, "O-of course! Why the specific request?"

"I have another agent in need of one. Someone who's in a similar situation." Marie replied, "I can send them by Ammo Knights to pick up the order, and you can see what needs to be done for yourself."

"Alright then. I'll be looking forward to it." He said before hanging up.

Now that she got that out of the way, all that needed to be done was fixing up the hedgehog's Hero gear. The headset had stopped working sometime after starting her call with Sheldon, so that would need some reworking, among other things. Then there was the hoodie… Looking at it closely, she could see that there were some small holes burnt into the fabric, likely from before. It was then that she turned to Hyper's own jacket, completely free of any singed material.

"Hmm…"


End file.
